Dark Moon
by SlytherinToNyx
Summary: Luna Lovegood...content, carefree, loving, understanding, slightly unusual and a little quirky.A witch firmly on the side of Light, right? Wrong. Complete AU world.Dark!Luna. Time travel,Dark/Grey Weasley twins Rated M for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

A/N: hey all, here is my first shot at a Potter Fanfiction. I always loved Luna, and know what a challenge she is to write. I also believe that she could have gone either way when it came to sides in the war. Both Harry and Tom Riddle have shown that growing up with a harder child hood could cause leanings to the darkside. If all the teasing Luna receives in the books is any indication she also has the potential to be a seriously powerful force for the dark. At the moment this is only written as a One-Shot but if you want me to continue, let me know and I'll carry on, i'm even concidering making this an serious AU and time-travel fic.

Hope you enjoy and reviews are always welcome.

"Loony loony Lovegood! Loony loony Lovegood!" the group of children chanted from behind the fencing of her family home. The young girl watched the children impassivly with large silver eyes while braiding odd looking flowers into her blond hair. She didnt feel any hatred towards the children of Ottery St. Catchpole, and she didnt feel any sadness either at their hurtful chants or remarks. She knew she was different, and she knew that one day she would be held in a higher regard. At 5 years old, Luna Lovegood knew that she would proberbly never have friends, or a normal life, and she accepted that.

"Luna! Time for lunch blossom." She heard her mother calling her. Slowly standing up,she made her way to her mothers unjudging arms.

"I love you ever leave me" Luna hugged her mother with all her might, the tears she had held down finally welling in her eyes. Morrigan Lovegood hugged her daughter back before scooping her little girl into her arms, "Oh sweetness, you know that one day mummy will have to go to the next world, but I'll still be with you. Always and forever blossom." She smoothed the blonds hair down and wiped her tears away, "come now, lets have some soup and sandwiches."

As she watched her mother clean up after lunch, the mind of this young girl whirled at the implications that one day her mother and father would leave her. She knew that she would go to Hogwarts when she reached 11 years and that she would essentially be alone. 'I need to find a way to survive. I cant let them get to me, I...I cant be the one to lose...' At that moment Luna Lovegood, started to intensify her 'loony' image. She kept her hair long and her eyes always opened wide with supposed innocence. The taunts and chants became worst and for the next 2 years she often cried herself to sleep, never letting her tormenters know how they affected her. Building her resolve and fortifing her mind to any harmful thoughts. Luna Lovegood became her image.

Needless to say, all this was good for her young mind in a strange sort of way, especially when her fathers frantic floo calls to St. Mungos awoke her from her daily daydreams by the stream. Everything moved in slow motion as she watched her mothers form be levitated throught the floo to the hospital.

"Luna! Come we must follow quickly, we have get to the hospital. There was an accident, your mother is in bad shape, quickly now," he lifted her into his arms, calling our, "St. Mungos!" The flames swilrled green and into the whoosh of fire and soot sat a dazed and unemotional 7 year old girl sat loosly in her father arms as he tried to find out things regarding her mother. Eventually sitting her down near a healers station so he could talk to the healer in charge of his mother case.

"I'm sorry , there is nothing we can do, except make her comfortable. It seems like the potion she was working on has made her completely impervious to any magical healing we've attempted. She is awake and has asked to see you and your daughter. Once again, I am truely sorry that we cannot be any help." The healer laid his hand on her father shoulder for a moment and left. Luna saw her father shake slightly and knew that he was trying hard to hold onto his composure.

"Daddy..." her voice was timid yet reassuring somehow. "Daddy, we need to go say bye to mummy now. Dont worry daddy, she's always going to be with us,even if we cant see her. She promised. Always and forever." With that profoundly mature response, she led her slightly stunned father towards the room that held her mother. Opening the door she let a sad smile grace her face and walked towards her mothers bed, climbing onto it and holding her mothers hand.

"Is it time for you to go now mummy?" She asked, a few tears falling free from her eyes.

"Yes my little blossom, I suppose it is, but always remember that I will always be with you, no matter what happens, I will aways be around you. Always and forever" Morrigan smiled at her daughter and then moved her eyes to her husband. "Xeno, dont worry, you will both be find. I know its going to be hard, I know that you will feel lost for a while, but please try to be happy, to live a good long life and find a way to carry on. Luna needs her father now, more than ever and when the time comes, she will need you to be both a father and a friend. Keep her safe. I...I love you." Morrigan Lovegoods hands shook slightly and tears traced lines down her pale face. Her breathing seemed to stutter, her strength waning now that she had said her goodbyes. She turned her head towards her daughter and pulled her face down to kiss little Lunas' forehead. Pulling back, resting her hands on her daughters cheeks she whispered, "Be strong Blossom, Always and forever."

Her hands fell and Luna watched the glitter leave her mothers eyes. She tried to keep her mothers hand on her cheeks, she tried so hard and she felt the tears bubbling, she felt the sorrow that no child should feel so young. And she forced it down. Buried it deep down so she could deal with it later. Finally after what seemed forever, she let her mothers hands drop back to the bed and turned to her father who was openly weeping.

"Daddy," no answerer. "Daddy, we have to go now. I need to go home. I want to sleep in mummys chair by the window." She slid of the bed and took her fathers hand, "Come on daddy, I'll make us tea and some sandwiches when we get home."

Confused by his daughters lack of emotion, Xenophilius Lovegood was easy to lead towards the floo. He didnt even notice when his daughter activated the floo and shoved him in after calling out their home address. Stumbbling after her father on her first solo floo trip, Luna led her father to his favorite chair and sat him down, heading to the kitchen to prepare tea the way her mother had showed her, and sandwiches the ways she knew her daddy liked. She couldnt let them out yet, she had to help her daddy first.

As the months went by, Luna watched her father slip deeper and deeper into what appeared to be madness, but she knew better. He just missed mummy. Even though everytime the wind blew, or she saw flowers blooming, she knew her mummy was still with her. She tried to show daddy, tried to tell him that mommy was all around him and all he had to do was look, but all that did was made daddy start looking for things that werent there and all she could do as the years passed was agree with him and keep him happy,all the while, pulling herself deeper into the persona that was Loony Luna Lovegood. She would let herself out, oneday, when it was safe, when daddy was safe, but till then she would stay strong, learn and grow, become better than those who taunted her and now her father, and then...when the time was right, she would be able to make her mark on the world, and they would all see what mummy had always said, "You're different blossom, and one day, the whole world will know how special you really are."

A/N:

Let me know what you guys think. XXXXX


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:

Hi everyone! I've had a few responses about this one-shot, hoping that it becomes a multi-chapter. So I guess im going to put up a few more chapters and see if it works or not. As always, constructive critisism is always welcome, flamers will be blocked from all my past and future works. Seriously, nothing good comes from flaming, if you dont like it, dont read it. As i've been writing I've figured out that this will be an extreame AU, which will invole usually light sided character being grey or even dark, multiple pairings and completely ignoring most of the books plotlines.

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Chapter Two:

Two weeks before her eleventh birthday, Luna received her Hogwarts acceptance letter. A small smirk graced her lips, she couldn't wait. All these past years she had been studying theory of many of the subjects offered at Hogwarts...and a few that weren't. Now it was almost time for her to start her practical applications. Sure, some of her studies she was more advanced in and she had been able to channel her accidental magick into wandless quite easily, but some things she knew she would need help...or the Hogwarts library to achieve success. She, of course, had been studying and practicing potions since before her mother had died, as well as Herbology that went hand in hand. She had learnt minor and some more advanced Healing magicks early on with the help of her accidental magick and charms came easily to her. Over the last 3 years, Luna had been concentrating mainly on Defence against the Dark Arts, some borderline Dark Arts books that she found in her moms old school trunk and Mind Arts like Occulmency and Leginemes. She knew she had to be ready for whatever could be thrown at her in the coming years.

After making supper for her father and a small bit for herself, she informed him that she had gotten her Hogwarts letter and needed to go into Diagon Alley tomorrow to buy supplies.

"I cant go tomorrow pumpkin, I have two articals to finish before the next issue goes out, but you're a big girl now, I'm sure you will be able to handle yourself well. Just make sure you take enough money from the vault, but dont go overboard now. You dont need anything flashy."

She cocked her head to the side and then smiled brightly, this would work out perfectly, "Of course daddy, I'll just get what I need to carry on my studies well." He smiled indulgently and patted her head. This is just what she needed, time alone with money that she could get what she needed. She knew that she was fibbing slightly when she said she would only get what she needed, but she rationalized that she did need a better trunk than her moms old one, and she really did need books to continue her studies, just not the ones sancitons by Hogwarts or the Ministery. That night Luna sat up late with her quill and parchment writing a list of the things she needed to get tomorrow that wasnt on her supply list. It wasnt too long, but she knew that it would probably make a small dent in the inheritance fund her mother had set aside for her. Looking over the list once more to make sure she hadn't missed anything, she hid it inside her Hogwarts envelope and waved her hand at the candles in her room, wandlessly noxing them and turning in.

The next morning, Luna hummed happily while making breakfast, today was the start of a new era for her. She called her father down to eat and then quickly finished her own food, already cleaning her plate by the time her father had seated himself at the table.

"I'm going to go though to Diagon Alley early daddy, to make sure that I get everything that I need before its all sold. Do you need anything?" She lightly touched her fathers arm, bringing him out of his daydreams, "No sugarlump, I've got everything I need at the moment. You go ahead and have fun, but be careful and dont stay out too late." Luna nodded and gave her dad a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing to the fireplace. She grabbed her vaults key from the mantle quickly, making sure her dad hadn't seen her and a pinch of floo powder, "Diagon Alley"

Stepping lightly out of the floo, she asked the Barman, Tom, to clean off her robes for her, no need to attract any attention so early on. Thanking him, she followed a small family though to the back and into the Alley. Looking around dreamily, she headed for the large white marble building that was Gringotts Wizarding Bank (London Branch) and stopped at the threashold. Looking up, she read the warnings written there, making sure she was entering with good intentions in her heart. It was something her mother had taught her years ago, something to do with the goblin magic housed here. They could sense your surface intentions when entering somehow and were wary and rude to customers that had bad intentions for the bank. Giving herself a mental shove, she made her way to an open teller and peered over the counter, standing on her tip toes. She glanced at the name plaque on the desk, it was in Gold, that meant a higher ranking teller. Luna cleared her throat,

"Great gold flow for you Master Bloodheath." She slid her key onto the desk, looking up with large eyes and a confident expression. The goblin raised himself of his chair, eyebrow raised at the human child who greeted him with such formality, not human formality, but proper goblin greetings.

"Tell me youngling, where did you learn such greetings?" He picked up her key and looked at it closely,as if it would reveal some secret, apparently it did, because before Luna could answer, his eyes widened and he smiled in a way only a goblin would find attractive.

"You are the daughter of Morrigan Lovegood are you not? Yes, I can see her in you, come this way, I shall take you to the vault myself." Luna nodded, a little confused at the special treatment. On the ride down to her vault, Bloodheath told her more about her mothers realationship with Gringotts. Apprently, her mother had always been a friend of the Goblin Nation, always respectful and courtious and had asked the Manager to take care of her daughter when she came to the bank.

"Here we are, your trust vault. Your mother put some rather specific protections on the vault and its contents, not even you father can enter this vault without being poisoned. She said that when you come her, we should inform you that there is a desk on the right side of the vault that will inform you of all you need to know. I will leave you now. Just ring the bell on the side of the door when you need to be collected. Many profits to you." Luna was slightly startled by all the information she had just received but smiled brightly at the goblin, "And my your gold grow unendingly." Bloodheath nodded his approval before climbing into the cart and leaving her to search her vault alone.

Luna headed straight for the desk indicated by her goblin guide and picked up the roll of parchment, her eyes slightly moist at the thought of reading her mothers last words to her.

_My Dearest Blossom,_

_If you are reading this then I have left you before I could explain my reaserch to you and what I was working towards. This letter will hopefully help you understand more about the last war and The Dark Lord Voldemort who's path was twisted without proper guidence. I have left you all my personal journals and notes with the hope that one day you will be able to complete my work. I have been training you in Potions and Herbology since before you could read and write and I hope that once you go to Hogwarts that you will be able to enlist the help of my old housemate and metor, Severus Snape. I know he will seem dark and overbearing but you must convice him to teach you, intruige him, make him see you as a puzzle to be solved and you will have his attention._

_I want you to know that I love you my blossom and I wish the world for you, nothing is impossible if you truely believe in it and I know that you will always follow your own mind and heart. Stay strong and let nothing anyone says against you affect your work. I know that one day you will be greater than you are now and that all shall know just how special you are._

_I love you my Blossom, my Luna, my moon, Always and Forever,_

_Mother._

Tears stained the parchment as Luna re-rolled it and tucked it into her pocket. she opened the drawes and found the journals spoke of in the letter. Walking around with these would be too much for her so she shrunk them wandlessly and tucked them next to her mothers letter. She grabbed a bottomless gold pouch and scooped a large amound into it, the total being almost a quuarter of the gold in the vault. If her mother had left a misson for her to complete, she knew she would need access to money on hand to do it. Ringing the bell she waited patiently for the cart to arrive, Bloodheath at the helm.

"I see you have completed your business Miss Lovegood? Quite a withdrawl, but I think that this might be better and safer for you. He handed her a smalled bag and placed the larger bag inside it. Grinning at the confused look on the young girls face, he explained that it worked like a wallet. The money she took would be returned to her vault and all she had to do was think of the number of galleons she needed and it would appear in the pouch. The exact amount she needed. Thanking him soundly over their trip back to the surface, Luna decided that she really liked the goblins of Gringotts. Luna left the bank skipping and headed for the trunk shop. She needed something that would hold her Hogwarts things and somewhere for her..uh...'Independant studies.' Looking around the shop, she headed for the sign saying 'Room trunks' and browesed their catalogue. Her eyes lit up at a dark wood trunk with silver clasps. The discription read, "_First latch opens normal trunk space, second latch opens single flat, bedroom,bathroom,kitchenette,library and one room for your own design. 5000Ga."_ Perfect she thought. Walking up to the counter, she coughed lightly to get the shopkeepers attention. "I would like a Room trunk please. My father has asked me to purchuse one for him. That one over there, with the silver clasps for 5000 galleons will be perfect for what he needs. Could you shrink it for me please?" The shopkeeps eyes glazed over with the commision from a sale of that trunk and quickly explained that it had a self shrinking charm on it as well as gave her the user manual on how to activate the wards on the trunk. He winked and lowered his voice, "The trunk also has disrupter charms on it so that underage magick cannot be traced. It will come in handy for when you are home and need to practice for Hogwarts. I have one for my sons to practice when they're home too." Nodding that she understood, Luna paid for the trunk and activated the shrinking charm.

Leaving the shop she headed to collect her robes, book supplies, and other things mentions on her Hogwarts list. _Almost done now_ she thought before heading to Ollivanders Wand Emporium. Entering the shop, she looked around for the old wandmaker but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, Miss Lovegood, I've been waiting for you for a few years now." The soft tones startled Luna and she spun around to face the wisened face of Ollivander. "Waiting for me sir?" she asked. "Yes my dear, I haven't had a challenging customer in a few years, not counting Mr Potter of course. Your mother took a few hours to find her match, unusual combination of wood and core for her, 12 inch American Koih wood from Hawaii with a serpent scale core. Most vexing. It was one of my fathers creations. Now which is your wand arm?" The little magick tape hovered in front of her.

"I'm ambidexterous sir." She said quietly,

"Really? Well then we shall measure both and find you a match." \

Wand after wand rejected young Luna who's arms were getting sore and poor Ollivanders shop was close to destroyed.

"Okay then, enough now, lets try something new. My father had three wands left after he passed the shop to me, lets try those then." He headed to the back of the shop and after some muffled curse words, he returned with three white boxes. As he approched the boxes seemed to come to life and two zoomed back to their places in the back of the shop, the remaining one flying directly to Luna.

"Well then, take it out and give it a wave, it seems like you already have your match though." Said the disgruntled man. gently opening the box, Lunas eyes widened as she took in the white wand with dark green vines along the wood. Her entire body felt light and fluffy as she waved it with the grace of a conductor. Beautiful white and blue stars shot from the wand and danced around her. She beamed up at Ollivander.

"Most curious, your wand, Miss Lovegood, is made from a mixed wood, Vine and Ivy to be exact, its from a very old tree in Africa and the wood has become white with age, however the vines seem to have retained their colour. Your core is a Hippogryff talon and it is exactly 13inchs in size, rather swishy but durable. No payment needed, my fathers wand are tricky and its not often that they accept witches or wizards. I hope it helps you in your future. I can tell it it will be a bright one."

Stunned Luna nodded and left the store, it was almost dinner time and she hurried to the Leaky Cauldron to floo home. She had stayed out much too late, daddy would be worried. She knew she could always come back in a few days to pick up some more extras. With a shout, she flood home to put supper on...her dad didnt even notice that she was late.

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A/N:

Okay so there is chapter 2, hope you liked it, its longer than I planned and She still didnt get everything she needed at Diagon Alley, hopefully I can get the next chapter up in a few days.

Reviews temper my aggression...like xanex :)


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Newly revised! Let me know if I missed anything!**

Luna decided to return to the alley two days before the start of her first year. It's seemed best as the rush after receiving letters was over and the late runners would be headed in the day just before the Express left. She still needed to fill her library and she needed an owl or some kind of friend, as she knew that it would probably be the only friend she would have in the years to come.

After flooing to the Leaky Cauldron for the second time by herself and having the bartender clean off the soot, she made her way to Flourish and Blotts where she filled her first basket with defence and mild curse theory books. Heading to the counter, she heaved the basket up.

"Excuse me," She asked timidly, "my dad sent me to restock his some of his library that has recently been attacked by floopers. They managed to make off with most of the books before we came home. Would you be able to shrink these for me while I collect the others he needs?" She looked at the attendant with wide, innocent eyes.

"That's quite a job for such a young child. Is your dad in the alley dear?" The attendant didn't know what a 'flooper' was but she guessed that the child's father had told the poor dear some ridiculous story to cover for some vandals or some such nonsense.

'No Madam, he's busy at home reviewing the damage and repairing what he can. Is there any bigger baskets maybe? Or a trolley of some kind that I could use for a bit?" Luna looked around curiously till she spotted a medium sized trolley that was probably used for returning books to their proper places.

"Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt for you to use that old thing for a few minutes dear, just be careful and shout if you need any help."

Luna nodded her thanks and retrieved the trolley, rolling it towards the potions section. The attendant watched her go with sad eyes, '_Such a sweet young thing to be doing all this work alone.' _

Luna grabbed a couple dozen books from the sections that seemed interesting and moved down the line. By the time Luna reached the counter again the books were overflowing and she had collected numerous titles in every subject that wasn't illegal or frowned upon by the Ministry.

"I think that's all of the ones daddy needs at the moment. He said there were some others but I suppose he will fetch those himself. Could you please shrink these for me?"

The shop keepers' eyes widened at the sight of all the books pack precariously on the trolley and nodded slightly.

"Of course dear, " She waved her wand and all the books were neatly packaged, shrunk and packed into a smaller box that was then also shrunk to half the size of a shoe box, "Now that will be... my goodness, 6875 Galleons and 47 Sickles."

Luna thought the poor woman looked like she was about to faint so she quickly produced her Gringotts wallet and thought of the exact amount, tipping in onto the counter.

"Thank you very much and have a nice day!" said Luna as she skipped out the shop leaving a drooling shopkeeper behind her.

Smiling faintly to herself, Luna headed to the Magical Menagerie to find her familiar. She moved quickly around the witches and wizards milling about and found herself outside the animal shop. It's smelt like animals droppings but obviously that was to be expected. Now, what to get. A tinkling bell caught her ear and the shop opened to reveal one Harry Potter and his friend Ron Weasley She knew who Ron was, and obviously she knew who Harry Potter was but she hadn't met him before. Making sure she was in the 'right' state of mind she came to a halt in front of them.

"Good morning Ronald and you too Harry Potter. Are you enjoying your day?" She looked around dreamily and then focused again when Ron spoke,

"What do you want Loony?" Ron sneered out. Harry looked slightly taken back by the malice in his friends' voice. He looked back at Luna, expecting a hurt look, but found only a serene expression.

"Just saying hello, have a good day." She cast another small smile towards Harry and floated past them into the store. As the door closed behind her she could hear the boys murmuring voices as they walked on,

"Mental that one, and not like Hermione mental, I mean like she needs a permanent room at Mungos, mental." Harry paused, "I dunno Ron, she seemed nice enough to me. Maybe seems a little different but that's alright I guess. You didn't have to be so mean to her though." Harry looked reapproaching at his friend. Ron only snorted and carried on walking, their voices fading the further they got from her.

Sighing, Luna made her way past the counter and towards the animals.

She moved slowly thought the perches and cages, looking at each and every animal that was around. There were dancing dogs and hopping frogs and even a few intelligent looking rats, but Luna didn't get any warm fuzzy feeling around them. Through the owl sections she spotted quite a few beautiful owls, some who, if you looked at muggle books, shouldn't even be in England, let alone awake and waiting to be bought and bonded as a post owl. A small hiss and the flapping of wings brought her out of her thoughts when she rounded to the next aisle and the back of the store. A large cage containing a perch was sitting somewhat alone in the dark. Moving slowly towards it, Luna bent down to see inside, to look at what creature was hissing as well as flapping wings. As far as she knew, owls didn't hiss…and they weren't kept in cages so low to the ground.

Hissing and spitting at its own reflection in the glass was a small winged kitten. Thinking to her creature books, Luna remembered a species like this that was a distant cousin of the sphinx well, some product of an experiment between and sphinx and a Pegasus, although where the horse part came in, (besides the wings) she couldn't tell. The little black kitten had a white mark on its breast and was arching its back, its wings flapping menacingly as it tried to intimidate its own reflection. It was the most adorable thing Luna could ever remember seeing.

"Come here little one," she crooned to the kitten, watching with amused eyes when said kitten almost jumped out of its skin at the sudden voice behind it. It took one look at the little girl in front of it and restarted its hissing and spitting and arching and flapping.

"Don't be scared, I won't hurt you. Would you like to come home with me? You could run around and play and then in a few days you could come to school with me?" The kitten stopped its tantrum and cocked its head to the side as if it was considering her options.

"That cat is clever it is, but it's a beast and doesn't like too many people," came a voice behind Luna. The shop keeper had obviously heard the commotion that the small creature had been causing and come to investigate.

Gracing a small glance at the man, Luna turned back to the cage, "I can see that he's smart, but he's still rather small, where is his mother? Also, I remember reading a little about winged cats but what breed is he?"

"No mother dear, this one was the only one that survived the trip over when we imported them. It's a shame thought, I hear that once they know who their master is, they are loyal to the death. This particular breed is known as a Cat Sidhe. The muggles call them plain winged cats and think that they are a…oddity, when actually they are the defected offspring of Cat Sidhes'. Quite like squibs are too wizards and witches."

The kitten had moved and was now pushing its nose against the glass beside Luna, as if to get a better look.

"How much is he?"

"Well, I'm not sure that he's the right pet for a new Hogwarts student, see these cats grow quite large, and my guess is that by your fifth year, he will be around the size of a small horse."

So that's where the Pegasus come in, thought Luna, she looked back at the kitten who was now attempting to fly out of the cage, but its wings were only allowing it to hovering it a few inches off the grown before it tired and fell back down.

"I'm sure that we will get along just fine. How much?"

"Well if you're sure, I can sell you too him for 600 Galleons. That includes some information booklets that came with the shipment, some treats and a grooming kit."

600 Galleons was ten times more than a plain owl would cost her but she had a fuzzy feeling about this little creature and she wasn't going to let it go to easily.

"Alright then." Reaching down into the cage, Luna picked up the small bundle of fur and held him close, "I'm going to take good care of you little one, and we're going to be best friends." Luna tipped out her purse on the counter and the amount clattered out.

Grabbing the shrunken bags from the counter, Luna made her way back home to pack away. The kitten didn't enjoy the floo and was clutching so tightly to Luna's chest that she was sure she would have scratches there when she looked. Just as before, her father hadn't noticed her disappearance and she was able to categories and does a little bit of studies before bed that night. Luna cuddled her new friend on the bed, stroking his back and watching he try to attack her toes. She tried to show the amazing new addition to their small family to her father but he was too lost in his own world today to say anything except, "That's nice dear, take care of it," before heading back into his study. She was worried about her father, what would happen to him if she wasn't around to cook for him and help him during the day?

"Guess I'll have to name you soon, can't have you wandering around Hogwarts without one can we? But nothing suits you just yet. Don't worry though, we'll think of something." Seeing the kitten curing up and settling down at her feet, Luna picked up one of her mother's journals and opened where she left off. Her mother's words soothed her and lulled her to sleep. It was as if she wasn't reading but actually listening to her mother's voice. That night, Luna dreamt vividly of her new familiar and woke with a smile on her face,

"Wake up little one; I know what your name is." She picked up the kitten and stroked its chin, the purring sending small vibrations through her hand. She held the little Cat Sidhe aloft and looked deeply into his eyes,

"Your name is Minax isn't it?" the cat looked at her with which could only be the cats version of a smug grin, "Good, then that's at least settled. Now, I've got today to come up with a way to keep watch over daddy while we're at Hogwarts. Better get breakfast started and then we can start the search."

**A/N:**

**Okay all done! Looking forward to the reviews! *hint hint***


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Chapter has been revised! Hope all spelling and grammar have been fixed, keep in mind I use BRITISH ENGLISH not AMERICAN, so some words and expressions are different, i.e. colour not color. Use of 's' instead of 'z' in certain words, and expressions like 'he spit on you?' will be 'he spat on you?' Just to clear that up.**

Luna spent her final day at home outside under the shadows of her favourite tree, reading about monitoring spells. She knew that her mother used them on her when she was little, but they had to be reapplied every so often and only gave a general idea of the health and vicinity of the subject. Finding nothing appropriate to her needs, she decided to try her luck at some of her mother's old spell books. They were…darker in nature and might prove useful for what she was looking for. Heading into her trunk and into her library, Luna scanned the shelves. One title popped out at her. It was a book that her mother had added as a 'defence' book. Flipping to the Index, Luna found what she was looking for. The spell was used to monitor criminals on house arrest. It was a charm that once cast on the person would show that person on the surface of a corresponding object, when the trigger word was spoken. Smiling, Luna took her mother's old hand mirror from beneath her robes. It was a simple silver chain with what looked like a pocket watch attached to it the size of her small palm. Inside was a picture of her mother and her on her 4th birthday, the mirror being held in the top half. She spent the rest of the evening practicing the wand movements to perfection. It was a higher level spell and she needed to get it right. That evening, during supper, she asked her dad about getting to the platform tomorrow.

"Is it the start of the term already?" Xenophilius Lovegood asked surprised, "Yes daddy, I start Hogwarts tomorrow." Luna calmly reached down to Minax to hand him a piece of chicken and smiled fondly when he started circling it and pouncing, pretending that he was making his kill.

"Well then, have you got everything you need? Yes? Well we'll have to leave early, wouldn't want the Humdingers to delay us would we?" He said warningly,

"No daddy."

"Alright then, best get to bed early then. I'll clean up here." Luna looked at her father in shock; he hadn't had such a large moment of clarity in a few years. Nodding slowly Luna walked to the door and then turned to watch her father cleaning the dishes the muggle way, humming to music only he could hear.

Smiling sadly, Luna pulled her wand and pointed it at her father, "Speculum monitorum," a pale pink light enveloped her dad and he froze for a minute before carrying on with his task. Luna exhaled deeply and went to her room. Taking out her mirror carefully, she opened it and placed the tip of her wand in the middle of the mirror and whispered, "Accipere speculum subiectum felis salutem." The mirror glowed pink and a brilliant smile broke across her face. Now all she had to do was test it.

"Salutem" she spoke the trigger word, which translated to 'Safety' and watched as her father appeared in the mirror. He was busy packing away the now dry dishes, still humming happily to himself. Closing the mirror, Luna started to get ready for work. She watched as Minax half jumped and half flew onto her bed, his wings are getting stronger, she thought, soon he'll be flying all over. As she brushed her teeth and washed up she thought back to the spell she had just cast. It was only visible if the person was actually looking for it, and it was considered a dark spell as it had been used in the past for stalking people, taking away their privacy, but this was necessary, she couldn't let anything happen to her dad, he was all she had left.

Climbing into bed, Minax curled into her body and began purring away happily; Luna fell asleep with a contented smile on her face, ready for the new day, the new start and the beginning of her mission.

Waking with the sun streaming into her bedroom, Luna jumped up and dressed quickly, excitement pouring out of her very being. She was starting Hogwarts today. Minax, whom she had developed a close friendship with in the few days since she had bought him was pouncing and jumping around her legs. Donning her plain black school robes over simple jeans and a pink jumper, she made sure her mirror was around her neck. Skipping down the stair to the kitchen, she was surprised when she found her father already seated with a cup of tea and breakfast cooked and waiting for her,

"Morning daddy, you're up early." She leaned in for a hug and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Not every day your only daughter goes off to Hogwarts for the first time. Your mother would be so proud of you pumpkin, I just know it."

Luna stood stumped. Her father hadn't actually spoken of her mother in a few years, "Thank you daddy, I miss her so much, and wish she was here today."

"Me too sweetheart, but like you keep telling me, she's always with us, and today is no exception." Double whammy for Luna, she was stunned now but still managed to slowly ease herself into her chair, her mind whirling at the new information… her dad had heard and understood everything she had told him? Then why didn't he show it? Why didn't he stay in his self-imposed dream world…unless…unless it was just like her own defence system? Her father winked at her with a sneaky expression. She just smiled and nodded at him and dug into her eggs and toast.

When all the dishes were washed and packed away, she made sure that Minax was tugged safely, if not a little unhappily, in his travel box for the train ride. Her father shrunk her trunk and she grabbed his arm tightly in preparation for the squeezing feeling she knew was coming. With a pop, they were gone from their home and had arrived at the pre-set apparition point of Kings Cross Station.

"I better find a compartment early daddy, I don't want to have to look for one later or be stuck in the hallway the whole trip…" She left the statement hanging and her father softened his look, despite her thoughts, Xeno took notice of quite a bit around the house. He knew what the other children thought of his daughter.

"Alright pumpkin, go on then and owl me when you can. I want to know everything that happens on your first day." He pulled her into a strong hug and kissed her forehead, "Go on then and good luck."

Luna headed to the train, her trolley behind her and Minaxs' box in her other hand. He was getting restless now and she wanted to let him out as soon as possible. Finding a compartment so early was easy and she settled for one right at the back of the train. She easily floated her trunk onto its rack and opened Minax's box to let him out. Before closing the door, she quickly cast a few simple proximity alert wards, slid the door closed and sat down, patting her knee to call Minax to her side. He huffed and puffed at her a little before clawing his way up the couch and falling asleep on her shoulder. Sighing, Luna pulled out the books she was currently reading. It had taken her almost an entire year to cast the appropriate charms to make the book look like and upside down Quibbler. The book in question was one of her mother's prized possessions and Luna had found it in her vault along with a note from her mother telling her what charms to learn to hide it in plain sight if she ever took it out of the vault. It was a journal that if found would land the author, given he was still alive, as well as Luna, regardless of age, in Azkaban for the rest of their lives. It was a hand written journal of a man who, while never mentioning names, only aliases, was an original Death Eater. It was a memoir of an actual Death Eater, started when he was only 13 years old and ended at the fall of the Dark Lord.

Morganna only knows where her mother 'acquired' this volume but it was one of the most brilliant things Luna had ever read, terrifying yes, but brilliant. It detailed everything from Lord Voldemort's school days and everything in between. Needless to say, if the Dark Lord had ever got wind of this journal and what was in it, the author would have pleaded for death. Obviously, these writings were a huge influence on her mother and what her mission was. Even Luna could see some sense in the beginnings of the movement. The Ideals of Tom Riddle. She was at the point in the book where Tom Riddle was disappearing, where the logical thought patterns and ideas were at longer intervals and only Lord Voldemort, his murdering ways and illogical thoughts were around, the writer stating clearly the differences in the moods and tempers of the two, and how the line between genius and insanity was being blurred between the two. She felt the train heave to a start and felt the butterflies in her stomach start up. Ten minutes into the ride, a bell sounded. Her proximity alerts had gone off. Hurrying, she donned her magnifying glasses and butterbeer cork necklace. She waited, hoping that it was just someone passing by, but luck was not on her side. A knock sounded at the door before it slid open.

"Oh, hello Luna, mind if we sit here? It's full everywhere else and we can't find Ron and Harry." With a sigh of relief, Luna recognized Ginny Weasley, a fellow first year and the only girl from Ottery that hadn't ever made fun of her. She nodded and Ginny entered quickly, followed by a bushy haired girl wearing Gryffindor robes.

"Luna, this is Hermione Granger, she's starting second year. She's friends with Ron and Harry too." Luna noted the blush on Ginny's cheeks and the pink tipped ears at the mention of The Boy Who Lived. She smiled to herself before listening to Ginny who had carried on, "Hermione, this is Luna Lovegood, she lives over the hill from us in Ottery St. Catchpole. I've known her my whole life. She's also starting her first year."

"Hello Hermione, it's nice to meet you." Luna closed her 'Quibbler' and held out her hand.

"Hello Luna, it's nice to meet you too. Are you excited about your first year? I know I was! I read through all my material the minute I got it! Do you know what house you want to go to?" The energy that this girl was emitting would be enough to make anyone dizzy, but Luna held her own and smiled serenely, her mask firmly in place, "Well, my father was in Ravenclaw and he raised me after mother passed, but she was in Slytherin so I don't know. Either of them would be fine, but I guess that all depends on what the hat thinks is right for me." Hermione looked taken back slightly at the mention of a deceased parent and was about to apologize for bringing up the topic when Ginny rested her hand on Hermione's' forearm, "Don't mind Luna, she lives in her own world. It's very hard to offend her. Just nod and smile and don't ask about the strange creatures she mentions, they aren't real." Ginny whispered slightly seeing Luna had once again opened her Quibbler, upside-down, and immersed herself in it.

Still looking slightly at Luna, Hermione nodded and took out her own reading material, leaving Ginny to her Witch Weekly magazine.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Revised and edited. I tried not to change anything except the grammatical errors. Enjoy and don't forget to review! I am in new territory with this fic because one like this has not been done as far as I can tell. I have no idea where I am going besides the basic outline so input from more experienced writers is much appreciated. Flamers, seriously? I haven't had any yet, thankfully, but if there is one reading, do you not have something better to do with your time than nitpick on others? If you want to troll, go do it somewhere else. Thank you.**

The ride passed in relative silence between the three, except when Hermione decide to search for Ron and Harry again. She came back to the compartment white faced and her breathing was shallow.

"They aren't on the train! No one has seen them! Oh gosh! Where could they be?" The poor girl was pacing now, and barley reacted when Minax hissed at her and swiped his paw towards her. Luna smiled slightly and shook her head,

"Don't worry Hermione, the Blumdingers will show them the way they need to go. They will probably meet you two at the feast."

Stunned by the statement that made no sense to the logically minded girl; she stopped her pacing and straightened her robes. Luna noticed the other girls sharing looks out of her peripheral vision and sighed softly, nothing changes, she thought.

As the girls readied themselves to head to the platform, Ginny waved goodbye to Hermione, who headed for the carriages that were being pulled by skeletal horses with large leathery wings. Thestrals, thought Luna, I would have to go visit them later. Following the shouts of a huge man that was calling for all the first years, Ginny and Luna made their way to the edge of the Black Lake, where small boats awaited them. Climbing carefully into a boat along with Ginny and two other children, Luna turned her gaze to the large castle that loomed in the darkness.

"It's quite beautiful, isn't it Ginny?"

"Yeah, wow…"

Ginny's voice trailed off as the boats rounded the corner and the castle was displayed in all its glory, lights burning down at them in the inky darkness around them. The boats grinded to a halt at the shore and the first years carefully climbed out, only one managing to trip over his robes and plant face first into the shallow water. A couple of chuckles followed the blushing boy, but he made his way to the group with his head held high. The group climbed the staircase and followed the huge man to a small room where he left them to wait for the Deputy Headmistress.

"Good evening, I am Professor McGonagall. In a moment I will lead you through these doors to the great hall where you will be sorted into your Houses. The Houses are Gryff….."

Luna's concentration wavered as she glanced around the room and all the children around her watching the Professor with wide eyes,

"Now, follow me please." Professor McGonagall swept through the doors of the Great Hall, the cluster of firsties trailing along behind her.

Luna's eyes widened at the sight of the Great Hall, the rows of tables that held each of the Houses, the brilliantly blinking ceiling and the teachers all peering over shining goblets. McGonagall was standing next a small wooden stool with a dusty hat upon it and a roll of parchment in her hands,

"When I call your name, step forward, sit down and I shall place the Sorting Hat on your head. When your House is called, make your way to your table."

She began calling the names of the students and one by one the group of first years got smaller and smaller. Luna made sure she could see and hear everything, but outwardly, her face showed a dreamy expression and a faint smile.

"Lovegood, Luna"

As Luna approached the sorting hat, dreamy smile in place, but she turned her calculating eyes to the house tables and the students watching her once again. Finally she looked upwards towards the teachers and her gaze landed on a man who could only be Severus Snape. She smiled at him, recognizing him from her mother's old journals about potions. His eyes widened when he heard her name, she thought that he probably remembered his old classmate and potions partner. Luna decided that she must, by any means, get him onto her side. She locked eyes with him, sending a small probe that just barely touched his mental barriers. She smirked as his right eye twitched slightly. She felt his mind probe hers but flinch away at her 'colourful' protections. Luna smiled widely and winked at the surly man, leaving him dumbfounded, before hopping on the stool.

The hat flopped over her eyes and she could feel small tendrils softly requesting access.

"I'm sorry dear; could you please lower your barriers? I can't Sort you properly without being able to see into your mind, and besides, your…peculiar defences are making me rather dizzy, no small feat for a hat." Luna could hear the laughter in the hats tinkling voice. It seemed to echo in her mind, sounding both male and female.

'I would love to, um, Mr? Miss? Hat? but…'

"Just Serenity dear"

'I would love to Serenity; however I have some secrets that I cannot allow to be revealed at the time being.'

"What secrets could an eleven year old girl possibly have that you would refuse to allow me access into your mind so that I could Sort you?"

The hats tone wasn't condescending, just sounded genuinely curious.

'What eleven year old girl has been able to stop you before?' Luna countered.

The hat, Serenity, chuckled, "Too true. Very well little one, I am bound to protect the secrets of the student's dear, but if it would make you feel better I could give you an oath?"

'You could do that? I thought only witches and wizards could do that? But if you could, that would make me feel better, yes.'

"I'll tell you another time how I am able to do it my dear, as long as you can find a way to come and visit me on occasion? Yes? Good. Well, let's see… I, Serenity Hogwarts, herby do swear to protect the secrets of Luna Lovegood and never reveal what I see in her mind, or what we may speak of in the future to any other persons without her express permission. So mote it be."

The lights in the hall dimmed as silver light swirled around the small girl on the stool, enveloping both her and the hat in its light. Lightning cracked outside even though it was still cloudless and clear and gasps sounded around the tables. The swirling lights settled around Luna, just for a moment causing her to look like an angel, her silver blue eyes glowing at the magic in the air. The Headmasters twinkling blue eyes seemed to be stuck jumping in between full blown twinkle and cold hard stare and if she could have seen Professor Snape, she would have known she had him just where she wanted him, the gleaming in his dark eyes so bright they flashed like black diamonds.

'So mote it be.' Intoned Luna mentally, before undoing her barriers and removing her unique traps.

Serenity was silent for a while and then it burst out laughing, grabbing the attention of everyone in the Hall, who had been murmuring softly to each other about the lengthy Sorting. Professor McGonagall jumped slightly at the sound coming from the hat, but recovered quickly and smoothed her robes.

"Is there a problem Serenity? Why is this sorting taking so long?" Asked Headmaster Dumbledore as he stepped down from the podium.

"Nothing Albus, just relax and go and sit down, this fine young lady and I are just having a small chat, I will Sort the others when I am good and ready. There is no time limit to a Sorting, you should know that…" Serenity the hat let her words trail off with unsaid meaning. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore gulped a little and sat back down at his seat.

Laughing again the hat informed Luna she should be in Slytherin like her mother was, but shaking her head forcibly, the girl protested her placement in Slytherin, requesting that she be placed in Ravenclaw where her 'mask' will be seen as borderline crazy/genius and she can fly and carry out her preparations under the radar.

"Yes, quite true dear, only the most blatant Slytherins are actually IN Slytherin House, but I have sent many a cunning mind to other houses at their request."

Nodding in a way only a hat can, a shout of RAVENCLAW filled the large space. Luna strode quickly to her new house, a content smile on her lips, ignoring the looks and speculative whispers around her. She places herself right on the end of the table, away from everyone else and her gaze fell back to Snape. Cocking her head to the side in silent question to his gaze, she felt his probe once again. Luna knew that this was the next test; she drew up the memories of her mother telling her about her friends in Slytherin, and about a young man named Severus Snape her helped her and taught her to love potions. All the memories of the potions lessons with her mother while she regaled Luna stories of their experiments and how much she admired and even had a small crush on him. Lowering her shields slightly, Luna pulled the Potions Masters probe towards the memories she had collected and watched the emotions that glittered in his eyes; however his face remained as passive as ever. Delving deeper into their connection, Luna began to feel more tired than usual; this was taxing for her, having never actively used her mind skills before. She found his mental projection and curtsied in front of it,

"Good Evening Professor. It's an honour to meet you Sir. My mother thought very highly of you and I cannot wait to learn from you."

"Indeed. You seem to be very much like your mother Miss Lovegood. From what you have shown me, you seem to have been taught rather well. I hope that you will continue to show such discipline in your classes and make your mother proud. Her work was always outstanding."

Nodding once, Luna curtsied again and steered him through the paths of her mind and out again. If she had let him try to find his way back he could have got lost for a while until she found him.

With that done and Severus Snape firmly back in his own head, she closed her mind and smirked gleefully at the shock on her new Professors face. She had taken him purposely through the 'long' route showing him the vast amounts of stores she had and a few of the 'beasts' she had protecting her thoughts, not all of them real. As for her main protections, the 'dizzying effect' as Serenity had so aptly called it was swirls of colours and images from the thoughts of animals around her home. The incoherent thoughts of animals to confuse and misdirect an invading mind. Returning to her supper, Luna listened to the soft comments from the people around her; she knew that they thought she couldn't hear them. Sighing softly to herself she knew that there would be no reprieve from the taunts here either. As she enjoyed her custard Danish for desert, a commotion from the Entrance hall cause all eyes to swivel around. Hooting owls and flapping wings sounded from all around and it was followed by the scraping of claws and the bangs of a large body hitting the doors of the Great Hall.

Some of the girls were emitting shrieks, the bolder students grasping at their wands and pointing them towards the shaking doors….

Silence.

A large growl and an unearthly hiss.

A muffled voice.

And then...

….Purring?

The doors opened and Hagrid walked in cuddling a rather large ball of black fur, its tail still swishing back and forth angrily at being carried like a baby.

"Now th'n, who does this lil' fella belon' ta? He might look a smidge diff'ernt, but he was just a lil' kitten when tha express arrived."

Hagrid looked around the hall until he saw movement at the Ravenclaw table,

"He's mine sir, I'm sorry if he caused you any trouble…but I don't understand? How did he grow so quickly, he was only a small kitten a few hours ago?" Innocence shone through Luna's eyes while she smirked triumphantly inside, the 'incident' as she called it had obviously worked a little differently than she had expected, but at least Minax wasn't hurt.

"Not to worry Miss Lovegood. I'm sure your kitten is fine. Maybe just bigger than you thought he would be."

By now the whole hall had gone back to the treats on the tables before they vanished, and Professor Kettleburn had come down off the Dias to see the animal that Hagrid had brought into the hall with him. The Professor looked at the cat and then back at Luna with an odd smile on his face,

"Miss Lovegood, do you know what type of familiar you have here?"

"Yes Sir, the Shopkeeper at the store said he was a Cat Sidhe, and that he would be about the size of a small horse by my fifth year."

The Professors spluttered a little and paled, but Hagrid looked ecstatic

"Really now? Tha' is a well-bred Cat Sidhe th'n tha is" He continued to stroke Minax's belly but the lion cub sized kitten was not impressed. With a quick claw to the arm, he was on his feet and purring up against Luna's leg, his head rubbing against her hand to try and encourage a rub.

"I'm not sure that it would be prudent for your familiar to sleep in your dorm with you Miss Lovegood, but perhaps, he could sleep outside in Hagrid's hut?"

A quick flap of wings and Minax was eye level with the Professor and hissing just as his name entailed.

"I guess that's a no then? Well you best take him up to Professor Flitwick to put on a few safety charms so the other students are safe. Have a good night and if you need any help, I…well Hagrid her will be able to help you."

Nodding her thanks for the grounds keeper, Luna turned around only to find herself face to face with a Prefect.

"Come on then Luna, you missed the others being led to the common room, follow me."

Laying her hand slightly on Minax's neck, she followed her House Prefect to her dorms, the stairs moving and the portraits talking all around her until they came to a stop outside of a large cupboard looking door.

"Here's the trick, see the other houses think you need to just answer a riddle to get in, however, you actually just need the password, which would be the answer to the riddle that is spoken. Only know if you have forgotten the password. Also the door Guardian," he pointed up, "is a Raven, if there is a non Ravenclaw trying to get in with malicious intent, he warns Professor Flitwick. Now would you like to try the riddle or would you like to just go in and find some food for you panther cub before he eats the owls?" The prefect smiled a little at his smart, but Luna liked him, he hadn't brought up her long Sorting and hadn't made fun of her yet.

"I'd like to go in please, oh, and Minax isn't a panther, he's a Cat Sidhe." The prefect, Luna couldn't remember his name, looked shocked for a minute and then smiled.

"Those are rare, but they are supposed to be incredibly intelligent and loyal. He's a good fit for you, I can see it. Now, run along, your dorms are the first floor to the left side. Sleep well."

Luna nodded her thanks and she walked calmly up the stair, Minax following at her side then pouncing into her room and jumping on the only vacant bed, turning around a few times and falling asleep. Shaking her head, Luna ignored the stares and the one startled yelp from her dorm mates, instead heading to the bathroom to wash up before bed.

As she wiped down the steamed up mirror, she sighed to herself, looking down at the counter top. 'So much for flying under the radar.' She thought. Wrapping the towel securely around herself, she headed out into the room to look for her hairbrush and nightdress that seemed to have disappeared while she was in the shower.

**A/N: Remember to Read and Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Final chapter to edit since my return to writing. I am looking for a beta to run ideas with and who has more experience with translating ideas into words so PM me if you are interested! I would prefer a beta who has some fics on the site that I can read to see if our styles mesh well together!**

As the Hogwarts express plowed its way through the country side, back at Kings Cross Station, two boys were trying to figure out a magical barrier...

"Harry! The barrier is blocked somehow! What are we going to do? We're going to miss the Express at this rate!" Ron shouted, his ears turning pink.

"Calm down Ron, I'm sure there is an explanation. Maybe we should just wait here till someone comes back out?"

"That won't work, the parents usually apparate directly out, no need to come back into the Muggle world… I know! We can take the car! We can fly it to Hogwarts!"

Harry looked sideways at his friend and wondered if Ron knew he had just dispelled his own argument. If the car was still here then his parents would be coming back out to fetch it and drive it back to the Burrow.

"No Ron, I don't think that's a good plan, I mean, surely your parents will be coming back out to find the car?"

"And then what? We've already missed the Express, if we fly, we can still make the feast! Come on Harry, I thought you were a Gryffindor?" Ron chided his friend.

'Well maybe it's just my Slytherin side coming out then?' Harry thought snidely. He looked up at Ron,

"I really think we should wait here Ron, I don't think taking the car up into the sky in the middle of London is a good idea, besides its only 10.30, the Express doesn't leave till 11am, there is still time for your mum to come look for us."

"Fine then, you stay here and miss the feast, I'm gonna take the car!" Ron shouted, his whole face tinged red with anger, how was he supposed to get Harry to be more like a Gryffindor if he refused to take simple tasks like flying a car to Hogwarts? The Headmaster was gonna be so mad!

"Fine then Ron, you go and fly the car to Hogwarts. I'm going to wait here for someone to come back through the barrier. I'm sure your parents will notice we're missing." Said Harry calmly, he didn't want to be in any more trouble than usual, especially before school even started. He watched as Ron pushed his trolley towards the exit at Kings Cross Station, grumbling curse words under his breath. He sat down tiredly on top of his trunk next to the barrier to begin his wait. Twenty minutes later, a pair of shiny boots stood in his line of sight. Attached to those boots was none other than Lucius Malfoy.

"Well well well. What do we have here? Harry Potter sitting all alone?" The blondes tone was somewhat off, but he had a curious glint in his eye.

"Why aren't you on the Express? Is it too lowly for the great Boy-Who-Lived?" He spat the title like it was a curse.

Harry looked up, he knew this was Draco's father; he had met him at the bookshop at Diagon Alley with the rest of the Weasley's. He knew that even though all Draco did was spout hot air, his father was not a wizard to be trifled with. Looking up slowly Harry saw the cold face of the Elder Malfoy, but behind the gunmetal grey eyes, Harry saw a glint of emotion, concern? Surely not?

"No Sir," Harry whispered. Lucius was taken back from the respectful tone that Harry was using. He'd expected the Weasley's to have rubbed off on the boy by now. He waited with a raised eyebrow for the boy to continue. Seeing this, Harry sighed softly and continued,

"Somehow the barrier was blocked after the other Weasley's went through, leaving Ron and I unable to get though and as far as I can tell, no one has been able to get back out either."

Lucius looked around for a minute, making sure he wasn't being watched, and then sat down smoothly next to Harry.

"And where is the Weasley brat now?"

Harry flinched at the tone of the man as sat next to him on his trunk.

"He decided to, uh; find his own way to Hogwarts so he wouldn't miss the feast. I decided to stay and wait for an adult. Um, Mr Malfoy? What are you doing here Sir? I don't see Draco with you, and I'm sure you wouldn't allow him to miss the Express."

Lucius raised an eyebrow at the boy, 'maybe this boy isn't as rash and dumb as Draco has made him out to be?' he thought.

"Well Mr Potter, as to your predicament, waiting for an adult was the best cause of action, not exactly a Gryffindor course of action, more Slytherin like actually. And as to why I am currently here, I do conduct business in the Muggle world as well," 'maybe a small test,' he thought, "I wouldn't expect a young boy to understand," he started, making his tone a little condescending, he knew Draco hated that tone, maybe the two boys were the same that way,

"Well not unless he was in Slytherin. But of course, even if I do not particularly like Muggles, there are more of them than Magicals and as such, have more money than many of the witches and wizards in our world."

Harry nodded his head, "Basic economics right? Business is where there is demand for your products?"

Lucius looked sharply at the black haired 12 year old boy next to him, "You surprise me Mr Potter, not even Draco has grasped why I do business in the Muggle world. And from a Gryffindor too…" The insult was subtle but Harry picked it up immediately. He raised his eyes and glared at the Malfoy Patriarch,

"Well Mr Malfoy, maybe that's because I wasn't supposed to be a Gryffindor at all and the hat actually wanted to put me in Slytherin?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Harry's eyes widened and he snapped his head back down to look at his now fidgeting hands. He hadn't meant to say that, no one knew about, in his opinion, his botched Sorting.

"Did I hear you correctly Mr Potter? The hat wanted to Sort you into Slytherin? Then why, pray tell, are you slumming about in Gryffindor?"

Harry mumbled something incoherent and fidgeted some more.

"I must apologize Mr Potter, but I don't believe that I speak _Mumble_as fluently as you do, though Draco does still try to teach it to me at times." Harry felt his lips curl into a small smile at the thought of Draco mumbling to his dad when he heard Lucius say, "Care to try that again?"

Sighing, Harry looked at his school yard enemy's father again,

"I said, the hat told me that he wasn't allowed to put me into Slytherin. When I asked why, he said that he couldn't remember, not that I really minded at the time, see Sir, I had just met Draco and well, I really didn't like him, way to stuck up for me… no offence Sir." He added quickly on the end when his saw the man's eyes turn a steely grey.

Lucius saw the boy next to him tense, and relaxed his posture… 'Was it possible that Harry Potter was the next one in a long line of manipulations by the dodgy Headmaster? Of course it was possible, everyone knew the story of The-Boy-Who-Lived, but they only knew it from what Dumbledore told the press after all was said and done.' Lucius cleared his throat slightly,

"Mr Potter, would you like me to take you to Hogwarts? I would like to talk with you some more, and then possible have some words with the Headmaster. We still have a few hours before the Express arrives at Hogshead so perhaps we could get something to eat first?" Seeing the boy nod, he stood and motioned the boy to do the same, "Come then, let's get out of sight so I can shrink your things."

Pushing his trolley into a small enclave, Harry watched as Lucius Malfoy, Mr Big-Bad of the Magical world pulled his wand from his cane with a quick wave, shrunk his belongings and handed them to Harry with a small smile.

"Before we enter Diagon Alley Mr Potter, I must ask you one thing, are you happy in Gryffindor? Or would you like to be resorted?"

Harry almost screeched to a halt and stared wide eyed at the man next to him.

"I could do that? I mean, I love all my friends but, I don't know, I just don't feel right there…something doesn't fit, but won't the result be the same as before? The hat wasn't able to sort me into Slytherin so I just chose the house that my parents were in."

"I believe, Mr Potter, that there were extenuating circumstances with your Sorting that cause this to happen, and believe me when I say it is not the first time. Wrongful Sorting is the result of a powerful wizard confounding the Sorting Hat or convincing it magically that it has already sorted the student. I believe my wife, Narcissa's cousin, Sirius Black was one such case. He was in your parent's year if I remember correctly. Both he and his parents tried religiously for the duration of his first year to get him resorted out of Gryffindor and into Slytherin where he belonged but they were unable to get the resorting done immediately. By the time they were allowed another Sorting, at the end of Sirius's third year, Sirius was already fully indoctrinated by the wizard who had him wrongfully Sorted. I believe that he became very good friends with your parents, but still, in the end, he was lost to his family. I know Narcissa still grieves for him."

The pair had finally arrived at the Leaky Cauldron and Lucius had moved them to a booth in the corner. He ordered a Fire whiskey for himself and a Butterbeer for Harry as well as a plate of cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for each of them. Harry giggled slightly at the thought of seeing the haughty Lucius Malfoy eating cheese sandwiches with his hands and dipping them in tomato soup.

"How did he die? Oh! Sorry." Harry realized how unfeeling his question had been and sipped his butterbeer quickly, his eyes cast downward.

"He is not dead, Harry, but he has been locked in Azkaban, the wizard's prison for the last eleven years. Though I know he is innocent of the crime he was accused of, he didn't even have a trial and I have not been able to, even with all my influence, get him one."

Harry stared wide eyed at Lucius. That was horrible! Eleven years in jail for a crime you didn't do, and not even a trial to plead your innocence! His mind working furiously, he tried to piece together everything he had just learned with the small amount of knowledge he had gathered about his parent's school days with the help of Hermione. The Headmaster was the only wizard he knew that was powerful enough to affect the Sorting Hat, and he had also known that the Dumbledore was already Headmaster when his parents went to school…so that meant…

"Professor Dumbledore told the hat not to place me in Slytherin and sort me into Gryffindor instead!" he gasped out. 'Just like Sirius Black…' his mind whispered softly to him.

"You're rather intelligent aren't you Harry?" Smirked Lucius. "Yes, it was Albus Dumbledore, not that the world would believe he would manipulate so many children and minds that way, but I believe he did it all with the purpose to control certain aspects of the future, all the children I know of that were wrongfully Sorted came from influential families and had great prospects for the future, and they were all sorted into Gryffindor, despite most of them not having any Gryffindorish traits whatsoever. So with all this new knowledge you have, think about what you want to do and you can give me your decision after our meal."

They sipped on their drinks quietly, Harry deep in thought about everything he had learnt and also everyone he had met in Hogwarts. When their meal arrived, Lucius glanced at his meal and then up to Harry, 'I wonder,' Lucius thought, 'what path would he take with a small secret? The Gryffindor way or the Slytherin way?'

"Harry, I would appreciate if you didn't mention this meal to Draco…if Narcissa found out I was eating soup and sandwiches! And with my hands too! She would be horrified! She would have my hide for being so, undignified in public! So this is our secret okay?"

Harry looked up from his meal, the innocence shining in his eyes was unfortunately rendered useless by the smirk curing onto his lips, "Of course Mr Malfoy, I would never tell Draco about his father's lapse in etiquette, but I really don't like lying to proper ladies. It really makes me feel so terrible so I try not to think about it…You know, Ice-cream really takes my mind off the bad things I've done…"

Harry's voice wandered off and he watched a small glint appear in the elder Malfoy's eyes,

"Well Mr Potter, I believe we have time to get some desert before heading to Hogwarts…Would that be to your liking?" 'Just like a Slytherin' he thought as Harry's eyes lit up.

"That would be lovely, thank you for offering Mr Malfoy." Harry smirked slightly again and got up from the table. He waited for Lucius to pay for the meal and open the way to Diagon Alley. They headed to the Ice-Cream Shop and each made their selections, Harry noting in disbelief that the Patriarch of the Malfoy family, Rich Bastard extraordinaire, Lucius-freaking-Malfoy, was addicted to chocolate. While Harry got a simple Chocolate-Vanilla Swirl Surprise, Lucius got something called a Sweet Explosion. He watched in fascination as Lucius stabbed the small mountain of dark chocolate ice-cream only to have hot caramel explode from the inside. As it pooled around the glass and ice-cream causing it to melt, small bits of brownies and fudge became clear, and to top it all off, Lucius pointed his wand at it and a collection of chopped nuts decorated the top. Harry felt nauseous just watching as Lucius devoured the whole thing.

"Sir, is this another one of those moments that I shouldn't ever mention?" he asked innocently,

"If you wish to keep your tongue Mr Potter" he replied but there was a smile on his face and his voice was teasing.

"Of course" Harry replied.

After leaving the shop and making their way to the Leaky cauldron to floo, Harry stopped his new companion.

"Mr Malfoy, before I give you an answer about the resorting, there is something I need to know."

Lucius stopped and turned to face the boy next to him, "And what would that be?"

"At the end of my first year, I believe you know already, I fought and unintentionally killed Professor Quirrel who was possessed by the spirit of Voldemort." Harry saw Lucius flinch at the name of the Dark Lord, "Professor Dumbledore told me that most of the Pureblood families were his supporters, including yours. My question is this; why if I have unknowingly vanquished your master twice, are you willing to help me?"

Lucius stood stunned for a moment, putting together a reply in words that a twelve year old would understand, he dropped his voice to whisper and Harry had to strain to hear it.

"The time of the Dark Lord was a difficult time for many of the Pureblood families. Many of the children were raised with the intention of becoming Death Eaters as soon as they became of age, myself included. My father, as well as a few others were the Original Death Eaters and knew the Dark Lord while they were at school. He was known as Tom Riddle at that time, and he was incredibly powerful and charismatic, but he held a deep hatred for Muggles due to the abuse he suffered at their hands. At first, his ideas were revolutionary and just what we needed in our world to bring us forward, but as he got older and the abuse got worse, Tom Riddle started to slip into insanity. The pull of the dark arts proved too much for even him to control and he lost himself. By then, he was too powerful to stop by anyone. Fear for their families caused his knights to follow him into his madness." Lucius took a few deep breaths, "I know that my uncle kept a journal of all his time with Tom Riddle and then eventually, the Dark Lord. He was killed when the Dark Lord found out about the journal, but it was never found, he never broke and revealed its location. I know that what He became was pure evil, but the ideals He held in the beginning were nothing near what they became, and it involved bringing muggleborns into our world younger so that they could learn our customs and history before starting Hogwarts knowing nothing. I know that there is a chance He will return, and I only hope that we will finally be strong enough to be able to stand up to Him at that time."

Harry stared at the man in front of him with calculating eyes then nodded,

"Then I would like to be resorted if possible. And I would like to get to know more about you and your family history, maybe even get to know Draco better, he can't possibly be a prat the whole time." The last part was said slightly under his breath, but he was obviously heard. Lucius laughed and patted Harry's shoulder,

"No, he is not all that stuck up, it's just a mask that he has to wear. Like I said, a lot of the families fell into the madness and if they suspected that the Malfoy's were anything but loyal, they would not hesitate to attempt to harm us."

"Good to know. Then again, if you are seen helping me, wouldn't that be seen as disloyal?"

Smiling at the question, Lucius bent onto his knee and looked Harry in the eyes, "You let me worry about that Mr Potter, okay?" Harry nodded and they continued on their way.

They finally reached the floo and Lucius knelt down and stuck his head into the green flames after stating, "Hogwarts, Severus Snape's Office!"

Harry blanched at the idea of going into his dreaded Potions Professors office, but held his mouth shut when Lucius grabbed his arm and pulled him into the flames.

**A/N: Not my best chapter I think, but would love to know your thoughts! Read and Review!**


	7. Story Update

Hello everyone!

I know it has been forever since I last updated, and I appreciate the messages I have been getting to update even when I have let you all down.

I have been travelling for the last year and have not been able to write, but now that I have settled, I will be revising and updating as possible. That being said, if there are any changes, besides the grammar and lack of execution of the first few chapters you would like me to alter slightly, please review on this 'chapter' and let me know.

I have started writing the next chapter and will edit and complete the previous chapters before uploading.

Looking forward to hearing from my angry, neglected fans!

Dani


	8. Chapter 7

**Dark Moon – Chapter 7:**

**A/N: Hey everyone! Again I must apologise for not being active for so long, I have been travelling and teaching English in China and South Korea and now I have just landed in Tanzania, where I used to live. I love this country and you should too because it has inspired me to start writing again! Expect to hear lots of people craping me out for taking this long, but that's okay, I understand it and hope you will still read on.**

**Dani**

Harry stumbled out of the floo, landing roughly on his knees. When his head stopped spinning, he glanced around only to find a shocked looking Snape staring at him. The look of shock was quickly replaced by a sneer that had him ducking behind Lucius in an attempt to hide himself. This action was an oddity in itself which caused Severus to pause and think carefully about what he had just seen. The-boy –who-lived-to-annoy was hiding behind Lucius Malfoy, pure-blooded and Death Eatery Lucius Malfoy. If he was a lesser man, the shock would have knocked him off his feet, but he wasn't a spy for nothing. Schooling his features quickly, he glared at both the persons now invading his quarters. "What is the meaning of this Lucius?"

Noticing the rising tension, Lucius raised his one hand in truce while gently resting the other on Harry's shoulder.

"Severus, I ask you to please listen to what we have to say before jumping to any conclusions." He watched carefully as his oldest friends eyes went from cold and hard to curious.

"Very well Lucius, but make it fast, the train will be arriving soon." He gestured to the small seating area in front of the fireplace and called for some tea. Harry walked slowly behind the elder Malfoy and only sat after he had done so. He kept his head down and his hands clasped, knowing that he was currently in a room with a man who hated him from the moment they had set eyes on each other. The room was silent for a while, only the chinking of the tea cups and saucers was heard. Finally and mercifully in Harrys opinion, Lucius set down his cup and looked at Snape.

"Severus, it has come to my attention that Harry here may have been…incorrectly sorted." He didn't comment on the sudden look of hostility coming from Severus, but carried on, "I am hoping to borrow your pensive, and then you can view my memories and decide for yourself before we agree on a course of action."

Professor Severus Snape sat incredibly still for what Harry felt was ages, before swiftly nodding and going to collect a strange stone basin with funny squiggles around the edges. "I will agree to view the memories Lucius, but this is a not something to bring to attention lightly. You are well aware of what happened last time." He let his words hang ominously in the air for a moment before setting down the bowl.

"Harry," Lucius turned towards the boy to catch his attention, "Harry, this is a Pensive. It is very rare and quite precious. The liquid inside will never spill from it unless the bowl is broken. As wizards, or witches, we have the ability to draw out parts of our memories for others to view. They are used in trials sometimes, as long as the memories have been checked for tampering. I will show Professor Snape our conversations today and then I would like you to please trust us with the memory of your sorting. Not to worry, the memory will be returned to you as soon as we have seen it." He had seen the look of horror on Harry's face at the idea of losing a memory. Harry nodded, albeit with a stiff jerk of his head and watched carefully as Lucius concentrated and then held his want to his left temple. Fine strands of wispy white smoke seemed to curl around the tip of his want and get longer and he gently pulled it out of his head. Looking at the 'memory' carefully and seeming satisfied, he held his wand over the Pensive liquid. Harry stood fascinated as the 'smoke' seemed to curl into the watery substance, never dissolving, just floating. It was solid and liquid at the same time and Harry found it disturbingly beautiful.

"Right, Harry, I want you to think about your sorting carefully. Try to go back to that moment as much as possible, the smells, the sounds, and the people around you. Tell me when you are ready."

Harry closed his eyes and thought about that day last year. He thought about the excitement he felt, the smells of what he can only guess was the castle itself. The wonder at seeing the Great Halls ceiling for the first time. Having made friends for the first time and most of all, the feeling of being 'home.' A small smile on his face he nodded his head. It didn't hurt per say, but having a memory extracted was not comfortable. When he opened his eyes, he saw the same type of wispy smoke attached to Lucius's wand and again it was added to the bowl.

"Right, not that's done, let's get this over with." Growled the Professor as he reached his hand out to the bowl. Lucius guided Harry's had and on the count of three they all plunged their fingers into the liquid.

Twenty minutes later, they resurfaced, Harry feeling dizzy again, Lucius with a look of conviction in his eyes and dreaded resignation on the face of Severus Snape.

"Dumbledore will never allow his resorting Lucius. Not without a Ministry order, maybe not even with the ministry order, and then that will open a whole new can of worms. The only other person who can force a resort is Sirius Black as his Godfather, and he is stuck in Azkaban."

"Let me worry about that for the moment, I have been busy the last few years on getting a trial for Black secretly. I know you hate the man, but even you can't agree with keeping an innocent man in prison."

Severus did not look happy, but nodded. Regardless of his dislike for Black, he had been in Azkaban for the last ten years, which in his mind more than made up for anything that happened in the past. Before anything more could be said, chimes sounded and Snape looked at the grandfather clock near the door.

"The express is pulling into Hogsmede, it's time to go. Potter, head up to the great hall and say not a word of this to anyone, especially Weasley. He couldn't keep his mouth shut if the Dark Lord himself willed it. Lucius, keep me posted please, the floo is open for you to get home. We will talk again soon."

"Thank you Mr Malfoy for everything and you too Professor. I really appreciate the help and I swear I won't say a word." With that he started to make his way through the dungeons towards the Great Hall.

Back in Severus's quarters, Lucius shook hands with his friend. "He is not what we thought he was Severus; try to see that he is obviously not his father. Now I believe you have a message," he said nodding to the door where a glowing dove was hovering. Sighing, Severus nodded, muttering "an injury already Poppy? The train has only just arrived!" while heading to his storage cabinet to find the requested potions. He was so engrossed, he barely heard Lucius call his destination and disappear through the floo. Closing his door and erecting the wards, Severus Snape made his way through the castle towards the Hospital Wing, praying to Merlin that he didn't have to give one of his snakes detention on the first day of school and his prayers were answered when he entered to see Poppy working over an unconscious Ron Weasley. Perfect.

Harry was seated at his usual spot when Hermione screeched into the hall and almost tackled him to the ground. "Where in Merlin's name have you been? I have been worried SICK for hours! Where is Ronald?" Harry chuckled softly at his friends antics and waited for her to catch her breath again before giving her a hug. He nodded and smiled at Ginny too, watching her ears turn bright red before running off. He sighed, "I am fine Hermione. There was a problem with the barrier at Kings Cross. We couldn't get in. I told Ron we should wait for his parents to come back through and he suggested we take the car and fly here ourselves, not realising that if the car was there, his parents were bound to come back through, right?" Hermione sat down and nodded.

"So he got really mad at me and said I wasn't a real Gryffindor and that he would then take the car and fly to Hogwarts, not even realising what would happen if any muggles saw him and took off. I sat on my trunk and waited outside the barrier for an adult to come back out. What's weird is that his parents never came back out? I mean, why would they apparate home and leave the car in the parking lot? Anyway, after a half an hour or so, someone came through the barrier and offered to take me to the Leaky Cauldron to floo to Hogwarts from there and here I am." He looked up at Hermione to see her face changing colour rapidly. He leaned away slightly, "Hermione? You okay?"

Getting to her feet, Hermione slammed her hands onto the table, "NO! I am NOT okay Harry James Potter! I don't know whether to be more upset with you for accepting side long apparition from a complete stranger or with Ron for doing something so decidedly stupid before term has even begun!" She huffed and took a deep breath. "Well, it's over now and you are here safely. Now we just have to see if Ron makes it."

"Yeah, I still want to know why Mr and Mrs Weasley didn't come back through though." He mumbled, almost to himself.

Hermione looked at him thoughtfully, "I have no idea Harry, and they might have needed to apparate for some reason and then sent someone to fetch the car later?" Harry nodded, but he wasn't convinced.

The hall was filling up quickly, the noise reaching epic proportions as people got reacquainted with others they had not seen on the train. Harry and Hermione didn't even realise that Ron had returned until he shoved Harry on the shoulder.

"What the hell was that for?!" Harry shouted as he got his balance and turned around.

"That was for being a PRAT!" Screamed Ron, his whole face read and blotchy with anger.

"I have detention with Snape every weekend for two months because you didn't come with me in the car!"

Dumbfounded, Harry tried to process what Ron was saying.

"Ronald! Why on Earth is it Harry's fault that you got detention for doing something as stupid as taking a magical flying car into the air in the middle of London before flying it to Hogwarts? You broke the law!"

Rounding on Hermione, Ron grabbed her shoulders and shook her once, "It's his fault because if he had come with me, we would have been able to steer and handle the car properly! It's his fault because if he was with me, Dumbledore would have let us get away with it!"

"RON! Leave Hermione alone! You are mad at me, not her! This is not my fault Ron! I told you not to take the car! Dumbledore would have given us the same punishment as you have gotten! You broke the Secrecy act but showing magic in front of muggles! You are lucky your dad wasn't arrested and he might still be if the Ministry decides to take matters further! Now sit down and cool off. The sorting is starting and I really don't feel like arguing about something so stupid!" With that, Harry made sure Hermione was okay and turned to face the stage, leaving a seething Ron to go sit further down the table with Dean and Seamus.

Harry barely noticed the sorting; his mind caught up in his own ruined one and wondering if the Headmaster had meddled in any of the sorting's this year. He noticed the flicker of lights and heard the murmurs around him but he couldn't seem to concentrate. The food appeared and he managed to pick at a piece of chicken and a carrot or two before scowling as he felt a migraine forming,

"Hermione, I'm going to head up. I have a bad headache and the noise isn't helping. Do you know what the password is?" Hermione nodded but looked worried, "The password is 'Sanctuary.' Are you sure you want to leave? You've barely eaten? Maybe you should go see Madam Pomphrey?" She reached out to feel his forehead but her Harry batted it away, "I'll be fine, it's just been a long day and I need to go lie down. I'll see you later okay?"

Hermione sighed and gave him a hug, "Okay, I'll see you later, but if you aren't feeling well in the morning, you will go to the hospital wing even if I have to drag you there."

Harry chuckled, "Fine, you win. I'll see you later or tomorrow if I fall asleep."

He stood amidst the chaos that is the Welcoming Feast and headed out the doors and towards the stair case, only pausing slightly when he heard the screeching of owls and a cat hissing. Must be a really big cat if I can hear it up here, he thought as he rode the stair cases up higher into the castle.

**A/N:**

**Short chapter I know, but forgive me, I am trying to get back into the swing of things! Reviews are appreciated even if it's just to shit me out about taking so long to get back to the story!**

Dani


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

A/N: Okay people, saddle up! This is where it starts getting seriously AU. Almost all facts and parts of the Chamber will be voided here because of the Diary was not given to anyone and will come into the school in a different way; also, this is where Luna and Harry start to interact more. Ron will also carry on his douchy ways and Hermione will start to figure some shit out. Enjoy.

It had been a month since Luna had arrived in Hogwarts and she wasn't really sure what to make of it. Of course it was magical and the library was to die for, but she could feel herself slipping. Back at home, she had been able to turn off here 'Loony' persona when she got home, take a break and just be herself, but here, she had to be 'Loony' twenty four hours per day, seven days per week. There was no rest for her. At times she could hide herself away from the hurtful words, deep in the library or on the second floor bathroom where there was only Myrtle to worry about, but Myrtle was okay, she got it, and she understood what it felt like to be bullied just because of who you were. She would see Harry Potter too and felt herself worrying about him more and more, not because she liked him, but because he seemed to get the same vacant look she knew she got around people who didn't like her. This confused the young girl because this was Harry Potter, he was a hero, and everyone loved him.

It was a day before Halloween and Luna had found a nice little alcove near the seventh floor. It wasn't huge but there was a small couch and a desk so she could do her work peacefully. She could hear the people heading down to dinner but couldn't bring herself to get into the Loony Lovegood costume she would need to head down. Instead she called a young house elf, a female named Mitsy. Both she and Mitsy were technically breaking the rules because students weren't allowed to call house elves and Mitsy was not old enough to serve, she hadn't even finished her training yet. With the house elf headed to the kitchens to sneakily get her some dinner, Luna's mind wondered to what she had accomplished so far. Her dinner arrived; it was simple, some chicken and vegetables with a side of mash and gravy. She picked at the food as Mitzy cleaned the walls and floors, stacked her papers and repacked her bag. It wasn't much, but the young elf loved the small things Luna did to make her happy.

Minax had grown bigger, so big that he was now almost the size of Fang and so he was only allowed into the castle on weekends. This gave her roommates all the time in the world to pilfer her things. She wished she could ward her trunk with something more than a basic spell, but that would draw too much attention. It also gave her more reason to spend her time in this little hideaway. The upside of all the horrid girls she had endured was that she had been able to spend so much more time on her research and building more walls around her mind. She had gotten quite good at wandless magic too and was now concentrating on trying to work with the elements. It was a hard thing to do for her age; most of wizard kind never even attempted it because it was draining and had to be started young. Most children would rather be playing Quidditch or trying on dresses than studying advanced magics. Luna had managed to take a flame from a candle and hold it in her hand for a few minutes and was happy with her progress.

She was startled out of her thoughts by arguing voices near the tapestry that held her alcove. She stilled as the voices got closer and higher in volume,

"What the hell Harry! I wasn't doing anything wrong! It's the job of the upper years to pick on firsties!"

"I don't like it Ron, I was bullied by my cousin and his friends my whole life! If you want to bully kids, just because they are smaller and younger than you then there is a problem!"

"Damn Harry, when did you become such a spoil sport? I was just having a little fun but if you can't see that the fine, who needs you!"

There was a physical scuffle and then an angry looking Harry Potter fell threw her curtain. Staring up at her, his anger turned to a look of shock.

"Luna? What? How did I get here? How did I get here?"

Luna slowly got to her feet, and helped the messy haired boy to his feet. She led him to the couch and sat him down.

"This is my secret room Harry; it's just a small alcove behind the tapestry. No magic involved. Sometimes I just want to get away from everything, so I come here. Are you okay?" She cocked her head to the side, looking at the small bruise forming on his chin.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Are you alright? You don't seem as, uh..." He trailed off, looking at the floor and averting his eyes. Harry nervously ran his hand through his hair.

"Loony? Yeah, I'm okay, I'm not actually crazy, but no one would believe me so there is no point trying to convince them. I knew before I started Hogwarts that I wouldn't make many friends, or any at all, so I'm okay with that. You are welcome to stay for a while Harry, but I need to finish an essay okay?"

Harry stared at the little first year and just nodded.

"So, you're not crazy then? Really?"

"Well, if I was crazy, I wouldn't know it would I? But no, to the best of my knowledge, I am not crazy. Not even sure why I'm telling you this but at least there is now one person who can see the real me and I don't need to pretend around."

The two students sat in silence for a while, just the scratching of Luna's quill and the shuffle of her parchment as she blew on it to dry the ink. As she packed it away, she turned to Harry,

"Harry, why are you not at the feast? I don't mean to pry, but you seem to have a lot of people who would miss you." She swept her blond hair over her shoulder and started to plait it.

"I do have some people who are friends, some who I thought were friends and some who just like me because they believe all the stories about 'The-Boy-Who-Lived," He said holding air quotes, "but around Halloween, they all forget that it's not 'Halloween' to me, it's the night I lost my parents, the night I lost everything! Like no one remembers that this is not the night I became 'famous' but night that a madman murdered my parents!" Harry had gotten up and was pacing around the small space.

"It's okay Harry, I know what you mean. Well, a little at least. I lost my mom when I was little; I watched her pass, so I know a small bit about what you are feeling. I don't know what would have happened to me if I had lost my dad as well."

Harry stopped pacing and sat next to the small girl.

"I didn't know. I'm sorry Luna."

They sat quietly for a little while, just being around someone who understood what the other felt, sharing each other's pain.

Harry broke their silence with a small sentence that changed everything for Luna,

"Can we be friends?"

Luna's head jerked up and silver eyes met green.

"I would like that very much Harry Potter, but what would your other friends think if you hang out with Loony Lovegood?" Her smile was bitter.

"I don't care Luna. The last few hours have felt more real than the last year has for me." He smiled at her and after studying him for a while, she smiled back. "Okay Harry, I would really like that. Just know that I when I'm not in this room, or alone with you, I won't really be the same person. I have so much to do while I'm here, no don't ask" she stopped his questions, "I have lots of things I have been planning to do since my mum died, things she left me to do, and asked me to finish for her and while I like you Harry, there is a long way to go before I share my secrets."

Harry looked at the little wisp of a girl in front of him, studying her serious expression. "That's okay Luna, I have secrets too, but maybe one day, we will be able to trust each other with that information."

None of the two students had realise how late it had gotten, well past curfew so Harry graciously offered up his first secret to try and cement his bond with the blond haired girl.

"This is an invisibility cloak; it used to be my fathers. This map was also his and his friends. Let me help get you back to Ravenclaw tower so that you won't get caught okay? I don't want you getting into trouble."

Luna, unaccustomed to offers of friendship or help, just nodded and let herself be helped under the cloak and escorted back to her dorm. The two made it back without incident and agreed to meet up when possible at their secret place so that both of them could just be themselves for a little while. No pressure, no acts, just two young people with horrible histories sharing solace and comfort in having a real friend.

The months past, Christmas came and went with Harry and Luna spending more and more time together in there hiding place. They spoke a little if something was bothering them, but otherwise just sat and worked, or read, Luna reading her mom's journals and the book about death eaters (transfigured to look like a quibbler) and Harry reading and writing in a book that Lucius had given him. Neither knew how much their reading interests would help the other.

Harry had been meeting with Lucius once per week under the guise of 'detention' with Professor Snape and working on getting resorted. Professor Snape had been helping him with his potions work as well and the two had come to new sort of agreement. Snape would help Harry with his work and tell him stories about his mother and Harry would not be insolent or act like his father. It seemed to work. What each of the friends didn't know was that Luna and Professor Snape had been meeting as well. It happened after her first potions lesson when Professor Snape had held her back after class, to the laughs of her peers, and they had spoken at length about her mother and of course, Luna's ability in Occlumency.

While both the students were huddled away and in their own world, a different sort of meeting was happening at the wizard prison of Azkaban, where Lucius Malfoy and his wife, Narcissa, were headed to meet with convicted mass murder, Sirius Black. Both the Malfoys knew that Sirius was innocent of the crimes he was convicted of and had been working for years for this moment. The minister had finally agreed to have a secret trail for Sirius almost a month ago, and today was the day the news would finally break to the public. Sirius Black was innocent.


	10. Chapter 9

**AN: I can't say much about my lack of updates except that RL does take priority - My apologies. I have got this chapter up as well as 2 others completed so they will be uploaded once per week and hopefully I can keep it going. Hope there are still some of you out there with some faith left in me :)**

Early Monday Morning - Hospital:

It was like something out of a dream, the first one in years that didn't include ridicule and hateful words shouted at him from twisted versions of his best friend and his wife. He refused to close his eyes for longer than a blink for fear that everything would disappear again and he would be back in his dank cell, the sounds of screaming echoing of the walls. He still had some flashes of his life before the darkness, just a small handful of memories that he fiercely protected, that he had hidden deep within himself to keep them safe from the Dementors. He couldn't even bring himself to wonder about little Harry, not yet, just in case this was all some trick, a terrible, twisted new punishment for the crimes they thought he had committed.

He shook his matted black hair and tried to clear his thoughts. He gazed out the charmed window again. He vaguely remembered St. Mungo's. It hadn't changed much. Still smelt of sterilizing potions and bad food - not to mention the constant up and down between hope and sorrow that plagued the building. The smack of shoes on the polished floors caught his attention and he turned towards the door to see a Healer enter, followed by a tall women with a monocle and no nonsense look about her, Lucius Malfoy and his cousin, Narcissa. The healer nodded to the monocle woman and said something too softly for him to hear before leaving the room. He looked at the others who had moved towards his bed, the tall blond woman looked so familiar to him...

"Cissa?" He stared in shock. She looked so much older, still beautiful to be sure and there was a regal air about her, as was with every member of the Black family, but she was older that the last time he had seen her. How long had he been in that hell?!

"Mr Black," started the women with the monocle, "you may not remember me but I am..."

"Amelia Bones, sister of Edgar Bones. He was a good man. I'm sorry I couldn't help get him and his family to safety faster. I wish I could have done more for him." Sirius stated, turning to look at her fully, staring directly into her eyes, unflinchingly. He did his best to keep his voice as strong and calm as possible, even though he was terrified on the inside. Was she here to blame him for their murders to? Was he to be charged with further crimes? He flinched when she cleared her throat but kept his eyes steady.

"Yes, he was. However, I am not here to discuss my brother. I am here in an official capacity which would be as the Head of the DMLE. Your cousin, Lady Narcissa Malfoy, nee Black and her husband, Lord Lucius Malfoy, have been campaigning for months to have you removed from Azkaban. Their request was almost denied until they were able to prove that you had not been given a trial in the first place by searching through the Ministry Archives. Since there is no record of you ever having a trial, and we have had no confirmation from the previous Minister that she preceded over a trial for you, it stands to reason that you were imprisoned unfairly - despite the so call confession you gave when you were arrested." Amelia removed her monocle and cleaned it carefully with a small tissue.

"No matter, whether you are guilty or innocent, such disregard of protocol not acceptable. You shall be staying here in St. Mungo's under a full guard and monitoring wards until your trial on Friday at the end of this week. This time allowance is to give the Healers enough time to determine your current mental state and capacity in order to see if you are even fit to stand trial at this point in time. I'm sure this is a lot for you to take in at the moment but I do have one more question for you before I take my leave: The Malfoys have suggested that Veritaserum be given to you at your trial so that you can defend yourself without the threat of anyone saying you are lying. Do you have any objections to this course of action?"

Silence filled the room and Amelia adjusted her monocle, a little out of habit, a little out of the tension that was hanging in the air.

Grey eyes met grey and the two cousins saw each other for the first time without the clouds of prejudice, School houses or family problems - just their cousin, their family who needed them.

Narcissa walked around the Department head and moved quickly to the bed, sitting down and grasping the hand of the last living male of the Most Ancient and Noble house of Black.

"Siri, please, tell her that you will agree to the serum! We know you didn't kill the Potters! We know you were never a follower of the Dark Lord and we know you would never betray the Potters, no matter what the cost to your own safety!"

Her eyes were wide and expectant as she waited for his answer, but Sirius was still staring at her blankly, like he was unable to process that he was actually being given a chance to tell his story - that he might have a shot at freedom. Narcissa looked at her husband pleadingly until he walked forward, and whispered quietly to Madame Bones, requesting a few minutes of privacy for his wife and her cousin. Amelia narrowed her eyes, but gave her permission grudgingly, along with a warning of "5 minutes only" over her shoulder before stepping outside the room and closing the door behind her. As soon as the door closed Narcissa tightened her grip on Sirius's hands and pulled him closer towards her.

"Sirius, listen me closely okay, listen to your cousin." She held his head in her hands now, keeping eye contact and making sure he was paying attention to what she was saying. When she saw that he was focused on her, she took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Siri, the Healers say that your years in Azkaban, while horrible, did bring about something good. When they did a health scan on you last week, they discovered something that you need to know. In your initial scans, they found a large amount of magical residue, mostly from compulsion charms, still lingering within your mind as well as attached to your magical core. From what they can tell, the residue is from powerful charms that are meant to alter behavior and counteract personality traits. In basic terms it means that someone forced you to change the way you though, forced you to change your personality and behavior without any thought to the long term effects it would have on your mind or magic. The tampering made you forget your life and loved ones, it made you forget everything good about your family and turned you against everything you once held dear." She took a breath and then made sure he was still listening. Sirius was holding her hands on his cheeks, his eyes wide and confused, "What else Cissa? What else did they find? I can see you have more to say. Tell me!"

She nodded quickly, and then glanced at Lucius before continuing, "The healers also found some very old traces of magic that is consistent with Oblivate. They say that the areas affected and the level of precision would require that the wizard or witch who did this to you was not only very powerful, but also someone who knew you well enough for you to trust them. The Memory Charm residue is covering a lot of areas of your Mindscape, some of the memories have be altered so carefully that they barely look tampered with, others are completely gone and then there are some that are buried incredibly deep in your subconscious. They are extremely surprised that they were even able to notice the traces of compulsions and charms, but luckily for you the Healer who did your first scan is a Prodigy in his field. He says that your time in Azkaban has weakened the charms hold on you and it should be possible for you to break away from any outside influences. Sirius, You MUST think back to our childhood! Think back to our shopping trip to Diagon Alley when you got your letter! Think back to your first year and what happened at your sorting; think back to what you told me when I found you at the owlery that night too afraid to send your parents that letter! And how hard you, your family, all of us, fought to get you resorted! Think about what the Sorting Hat said to you! You told me about it in the owlery!" Narcissa's eyes were wet with tears as she struggled to maintain her composure. She looked up at her husband, unknowing what more to say. Lucius stepped closer to the bed and put his hand on who might as well be his brother-in-law, "Black, do you remember anything, even a small detail of that time at all? Can you recall any of the memories that Narcissa has just told you about? It is vital that you try to remember them!" Lucius's voice was calm, but urgent, constantly aware of the small amount of time he had left to convince the seemingly broken man to take the truth serum.

"I….I remember small bits of that year...I think I remember when I got my letter, but I don't remember going shopping with you. I remember some of my first year, mostly meeting James and Remus, I remember the sorting hat being put on my head but then it gets blurry again. I remember having an argument with someone...but I can't remember if it was James or Bella I was fighting with. I know I sent a letter to Father because I got disowned the next day but I don't remember you being at the owlery at all! Though the memories get clearer towards the end of the year, when Dumbledore convinced me to stop fighting the sorting and to be happy in Gryffindor…" he trailed off, his eyes widening, "The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, not Gryffindor! It said it couldn't though, and it didn't know why!" His eyes were wide and frantic; his breathing was becoming erratic as memory after memory started returning one after the other. Each new memory stirred a though that in turn branched off and broke through other hidden seals and magical blocks until he was able to see everything that had been taken from him. Most of the locked memories were open to him again and now he knew who had taken them.

"Dumbledore" He said through gritted teeth. "I will kill him!"

"Shush cousin!" whispered Narcissa fiercely, her hand covering his mouth, "You cannot speak like that with Madame Bones just outside! We have more to tell you and less time than we wanted to talk privately! Please, agree to the use of veritaserum so that the trial can go ahead! We will be able to visit you this week before the trail to talk more. Sirius, think of Harry, he is such a good boy, and that old fool is already plotting and scheming and changing his fate like a pawn on a chess board! Severus and Lucius are working on a way as we speak to get him resorted but so far it is not going well. We need you free Sirius, and with the Ministry in your debt, you could force the resorting and same Harry from going through the same fate as you! The hat said the same to Harry as it did to you! He was put in Gryffindor against his will!" Her voice was pleading and glancing at the door as she heard footsteps approaching. She turned back to Sirius, "Please cousin, please do this for me as the fate of our families, that of your Godson and possibly the magical world as we know it rests on getting your name cleared and getting Harry away from Dumbledore's clutches!"

The room door opened and Amelia stepped in. She raised an eyebrow at the tears in Lady Malfoys eyes but said nothing; she just stared questioningly at the patient in the bed. The question in her eyes clear. Sirius took a deep breath and turned slightly to face her.

"Madame Bones, I, Sirius Black, agree to take Veritaserum of my own free will for the duration of my trial under the condition that any and all questions are approved by, and asked by one Severus Snape. Not only is he a Potions Master, but he and I have a…bad…history from our school days. No one who knows witnesses our relationship would ever accuse him of favoring me or aiding me secretly in anyway. Are these terms acceptable to you Madame?"

The department head cocked her head to the side slightly, and then nodded. "Very well. I will ensure that Professor Snape is sent a summons for your trial and informed of his duties. Now then, the healers are here to begin your in depth testing to clarify the initial reports. As Mrs, Malfoy is your cousin, she, as well as her husband and your Lawyer will be the only ones allowed to visit you, although I believe Professor Snape will stop on Wednesday to write up the questions you will be asked. He will then bring them to me for approval. Should there be any questions that I need him to ask you, he will have that list for your approval as well.

If all goes well, you should be cleared by the healers by Thursday evening. I will be here once a day to hear their findings and to check in on you as well as answer any questions you have, within reason. Now I must ask that you both leave now, Lady Malfoy, Lord Malfoy - so that Mr Black can begin is treatments. He has a lot of work ahead of him."

With that, she nodded once in his direction, and left the room, making way for two healers, a young man and woman in mint green robes to enter quickly after her departure. Each of their robes held a small name tag and a small blue pin which identified them as junior healers. Lucius, always alert quickly took quick notice of the rooms new occupants and immediately recalled what information he knew of them: Junior Healer Amanda Kent (Ravenclaw) was a young woman with dark auburn hair, bright blue eyes and 23 years of age. Currently in her final year of residency before becoming a fully qualified healer. The male name is Junior Healer Andrew Duncan, a tall, lithe youth of 18 years. Lucius knew less about him as he was so young though he did note that Andrew eyes and hair were both almost unnaturally dark and they reminded Lucius eerily of Severus. He looked back over to his wife and her cousin to check their time and then swept his eyes over the junior healers again. He knows that they had been specifically selected, along with their Supervisor, due to their specific talents and recommendations. Amanda Kent was top of her class, both at Hogwarts and at the Academy of Healing Arts - Surpassing many school records and developing an incredible ability to sense and heal old and forgotten injuries that are unknown or do not show up on the regular scans. She also was well known for being able to gain any patients confidence, regardless of any anger or refusal to communicate with other healers, which made her invaluable in delicate cases that the patients refused to talk or couldn't express themselves adequately. She was well sort after by Aurors who handled scared or hurt children or abused witches or wizards.

On the other hand, Healer Andrew Duncan, from what he could glean, was equally as impressive, if not more so due to his age, although in quite a unique way. Though only a year out of Hogwarts, also a Ravenclaw if he was not mistaken, Duncan had shown an impressive aptitude for the Mind Arts and surpassed all his peers at the Academy, as well as most of those in years above him when it came to the mind arts. The 18 year old was easily about to enter the minds of patients, sometimes without their knowledge if it was needed, and help them heal from metal attacks, misfired or used memory curses or even help them regain memories thought lost from childhood. The Chief Healer said that he was ambitious - maybe too ambitious, as when he had been told of his new assignment, he had told his Superiors that if he helped Sirius Black, then afterwards, regardless of the trial's outcome, he was to be given access to work with the long term care patients who had lost their minds to the Cruciatus Curse. Apparently the young mind healer had his mind set on trying to navigate the minds of lost souls and guide them back to reality. Again, Lucius was struck at how similar the boy looked to the Potions Master as well as how they seemed to have the same personality traits.

The Lord of Malfoy Manor straightened his back slightly and moved a strand of ice blond hair out of his face, smiling to himself as he wondered if in order to excel so naturally at the mind arts as Severus and Junior Healer Duncan did, was it a requirement to have dark hair, darker eyes and an even darker disposition? What was it about Natural Occulmens and Legilimens that they always seemed so cold to everyone else? Nevertheless, young as these to are, even as junior healers were the best at what they do and Malfoys always get the best they can for themselves - and for their family. Lucius looked at his pocket watch and then moved forward and gently tapped his wife on the shoulder.

The two healers looked up from their papers when he man moved towards the bed to get his wife's attention. They said not a word and kept silent as their new high priority patient said goodbye to his cousin and her husband. They both knew there was a lot riding on this case, what it was and what it would do for them and their futures - regardless of if the man was innocent or guilty, their job was the same - make sure he is in the best health he possibly can be, both mentally and physically in 5 days so that he can stand trial. Lost in their own head for a moment as the contemplated how they would accomplish their goals, Narcissa leaned towards Sirius and hugged him, her hands getting tangled in his hair briefly.

"Rest well now cousin," whispered Narcissa, "I will be back tomorrow with some clean clothes and supplies for you, and I will wash and cut you hair properly, help give you a shave. I will also bring newspapers and such so you can catch up on what's been happening in the world. Stay strong Siri, and try and remember more about the past. Here, this is for you. It's a journal for you to write in. Try first to write down everything as you remember it normally, wanting to be in Gryffindor, the Potters, Dumbledore, your classes, everything. Then, I want you to dig deeper and try sort the lies from the truth. You don't have much time before the trial, but at least the healers here will document every compulsion scar, spell residue and block, altered or deleted memory in your mind. The healers we got you are the best we could find, even if they are younger. Please listen to them and let them help you. Rest well Siri." She handed him a medium sized book - bound in black leather with the Black family crest embossed on the front. He slowly traced the pattern, a foggy memory of his father writing in a similar book whenever he was in his office entered his mind briefly.

"Narcissa, we must go." Lucius's voice cut through the memory, bringing Sirius back into reality.

"Thank you Cissa, and you Lord Malfoy, Lucius for everything - you have given me that which I have not had in many years - Hope for a future and the possibility of seeing my Godson again."

The usually reserved Lady Malfoy threw her arms around her cousin and hugged him tightly one more time before standing and smoothing down her dress and taking her husband's arm, "We will see you tomorrow Siri. Listen to the Healers."

And with a last nod from Lucius, they were gone. Sirius turned his head towards the two young adults in the corner and gave them a crooked yet weary grin as they came towards him, "Guess I'm all yours for now then huh? Be gentle with me yeah?"


	11. Chapter 10

AN: Hi all, Chapter 10 is up! This chapter is really concentrating on Sirius's recovery from Azkaban and deeply into the work that is required to mend a mind that has not only been exposed to Dementors, but also one that has been tampered with at a young stage of the brains development. I always wanted to believe that Sirius really was able to be the father figure Harry needed when he got out, but logically - after that many years (even if its only 4 in this fic) it would really screw someone up and it wouldn't just be a quick in and out fix for a Mind Healer. We are also going to get to know my OC Andrew Duncan better as he delves deeper into Sirius's mind and starts to find the depth of the tampering and compulsion charms needed to completely force someones personality to alter and the problems that its cause. Chapters 10- 15 most likely will focus on Siri's rehab and prep for trial although our dear Potions Master will be making an appearance and we will have some H/L parts to keep you going. Sorry for the long AN~! Enjoy!

Senior Healer Maxwell Forbes walked out of his office and headed for the lift, his hand reaching and pushing the button for the 10th floor (which was hardly ever used unless it was by the Minister or requested by a celebrity that wanted to make sure no reporters could find them). The floor only had one large room towards the end, as well as a standard nurse's station, bathroom and a staff room, which was currently serving as a rest room for the rotation of Aurors assigned to watch his patient. His body walked on autopilot while his thoughts wandered - he was happily letting his feet take him where he needed to be, his body conditioned by walking the same corridors and paths for at least 7 years now. Today was different to his usual rounds and he thanked Merlin that he could trust his instincts to get him to his destination without too much conscious thought. He had too much to think about right now to worry about keeping up appearances. Usually, he wasn't so quiet or unfriendly to those around him. He was hardly ever as antisocial as he had been the last few days - always happy to greet people passing by or stop for a quick catch up chat with other Healers on their rounds, but today he couldn't afford any distractions. As the lift bell rang he looked up and noticed he still had 4 more floors to go and again - he let his mind drift to the past few days.

It had been 4 days now since he had gotten a memo for a meeting with the Chief Healer of the Hospital. Of course he'd been surprised when he had been assigned this particular case - that of one Sirius Orion Black: Mass murder and supporter of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named - Betrayer of the Potters and all round Evil Incarnate. He had thought that there was some prank being pulled when he was informed that starting the following Monday (which was today) he would have a total of five days to evaluate the prisoner of Azkaban, and get him as trial ready as possible with with the help of two junior healers that had been specifically selected for this task - One with whom he had worked with before, Amanda Kent, who he knew was a hard worker, currently in her final year or training and had a bright future ahead of her. The other assistant that had been selected was a quiet young man whom he had heard much about from the other department heads, but he had barley heard the boy speak besides when giving his reports to a supervisor. Both junior healers, otherwise known simply as apprentices, were considered prodigies in their respective fields and great things were expected of them from all their Professors and colleagues. Max felt honored as well as a little nervous to be their Supervisor for this case and was still having trouble speaking so he just nodded instead.

Of course when the shock had worn off and he had finally had the presence of mind to actually talk, his first question had been to ask why the Ministry was giving Black a second trial at all? Was there new evidence of some kind to connect him to another crime? Max shook himself as he head the elevator doors open and walked out of the lift, down the long corridor which seemed to go on forever. He vividly remembered how dumbfounded he had been to learn that the supposed convicted criminal he was supposed to heal had never gotten the chance of a trial, even though all the other Death Eaters had gotten their day in court. Regardless of what crimes he accused of, the Ministry had never give him the chance to defend himself or explain his actions to the people who knew him. He had just been shipped off to hell on Earth without any actual proof of his guilt. Sure, everyone had read the paper after he had been arrested. Everyone had heard that Sirius Black was found screaming about it being his fault the Potters were dead, laughing like a lunatic on the floor, right in the middle of the destruction he had caused by blowing up all those poor muggles and yet another ex-housemate and friend with just one spell!

Forbes himself had been only two years ahead of the Marauders,(though he was from Hufflepuff), and it had sickened him to think about that little naughty second year who he had lectured and given detentions to so often - had betrayed the other trouble maker who was always with him - they were basically attached at the hip most of the time! The two Gryffindor's who were best friends and brothers all thought their schooling years, the two of them and those other two as well who were inseparable in their devotion to their little group. The entirety of Hufflepuff had thought that their loyalty to each other was beyond reproach and something to be admired. The type of friendship to strive for.

Forbes paused and shook his head again, pulling himself out of his thoughts as he reached his patients room before clearing his throat softly and striding confidently into the room, nodding at his two assistants who were already running there individual scans.

"Healer Kent, what are your findings so far?" He asked, his head down and quill ready to record the junior healers findings.

"Well Sir," Healer Kent began, she looked up at her supervisor and then back down to the man she was scanning, her wand constantly moving, its tip a bright blue, "we asked permission from the patient to put him to sleep for the first sets of examinations as it might take a while, especially Junior Healer Duncan's part, to which he agreed. I have been scanning the rest of his body from his neck down to his feet to check his general well being and overall health for any irregularities, while Healer Duncan has begun his mapping of the patients mindscape for viewing and diagnosis at a later state."

Healer Forbes nodded and jotted down the tasks the healers had assigned themselves, "And your findings and suggestions at this current point?"

The woman blew out a breath of air and wiped her forehead before lifting her chart and making her own notes as well as removing a Potions receipt form and handing it to the Supervisor.

"All I can say is that besides being severely malnourished, and I mean dangerously so, I have noted a few bones that have been broken badly and not set properly, as well as one or two cuts that look to be infected on his back. Other than that Mr Black is in unexpectedly good shape. I believe a regiment of Level 16 Nutrient potions, three times per day for now, as well as a daily dose of magic replenisher and Immune System booster, followed by a Vitamin bath once per day just to be on the safe side. These steps should bring him back to a normal, healthy stage, at least physically within a few months. Although within the 5 days we have with him, he should be strong enough to be escorted to the Courtroom and participate in the questioning, as long as the Wizengamot agrees to at least a 3 hour recess half way through so that he can rest and take his potions. If not he will overtax his system and could go into shock. He will need to sleep a lot with such a high level nutrient potion working its way into his system to restore the damage."

Kent paused and looked up from her parchment for slight moment, as if she was listening to something and then answered the unasked question Max was about to ask. "And not to worry Healer Forbes, the potions he will be given will not interfere with the Veritaserum in any way. I have checked the calculations and the ingredients twice over. It is safe."

Max nodded for her to continue her report, and she nodded slightly before continuing,

"Moving forward, I will need to either re-break, and then set the bones that healed incorrectly or perhaps remove them completely and regrow them from scratch, but we will have to ask the patients opinion and give him his options when he is awake. As to his mental stability after 4 years at Max level with those disgusting creatures, well, I guess we will know what we are dealing with as soon as Andrew is finished mapping and evaluating from the inside - although they might be a while by the looks of things. I am going to get the first schedule of potions brewed for Mr Black unless you have any objections Sir?" Kent waited patiently while Forbes reviewed her notes and did a few calculations of his own before he nodded and signed the potions slip that would allow her to access the restricted level potions ingredients. Handing it back to her, she excused herself and headed for the door.

He watched her leave before taking a seat at the small table near the window as he knew that he could possibly end up waiting for a few hours before Kent completed the potions that were needed and that had to be fresh, and most of the time in extreme cases such as this, Mind Healing sessions could take up to four hours before the healer had to remove himself from the patients mind or risk causing themselves or there charges harm. That in mind, Maxwell Forbes turned and began to watch his younger assistant, as he thought back to what he had learned of the young man working silently in front of him.

Healer Andrew Duncan, Ravenclaw, aged 18 years, was spoken of in hushed whispers at St. Mungos. Occasionally, Max had heard small snippets about a prodigy of Mental Healing at the Academy whenever he was passing by the Head of Mind Healers office. There were always rumors around the hospital about something or another, but even he was interested in some of the boys supposed abilities. Although he had only just finished Hogwarts last year and had just finished his first year at the Healers Academy, Andrew Duncan was said to have blown his Professors away with what he could accomplish within the mindscapes of his test patients and even within the mind of the teacher testing his abilities. His control was said to be incredibly impressive for his age. Of course, Max had taken the liberty of finding out as much as he could about the two assistants he had been assigned for this case before today, so that he had some background history to work with and some idea of how to handle them.

Given that he knew quite a bit about Amanda Kent already, he spent most of the time looking into Andrew's credentials.

With only snippets of information and rumors to go on from the hospital, Max had traveled to the Academy over the weekend and had spoken with the staff, especially Duncan's Professors. They all spoke his praises in most areas, but also reported that despite his admittedly extremely high level of intelligence, Duncan seemed to have an extremely low Emotional Intelligence or EQ, which seemed to cause some issues his colleagues and test patients. While he was able to pass 90% of his classes without even trying, Andrew was pretty much useless when it came to his PAFC (Patient and Family Care) class and so was now taking extra classes for IBSM (Introduction to Bed Side Manners). According to his Professors, Andrew was a completely different person when they conversed with him while he was inside their minds or them in his. They stated that he flourished within the inner mind and became charming, outgoing and extremely confident - a complete contrast to how he behaved on a day to day basis, in which he only spoke if asked a question directly from a Professor and was only interested in how the mindscapes of different patients with different ailments worked or how to break through certain mental blocks, and of course, his personal project, which, according to the Headmaster was at a high enough level in its theory to be used as a final thesis essay or perhaps even to be published in the 'Mind Healers Monthly' periodical.

Max also learned that due to his advancement in most areas, which were much higher about his year level, the Professors, along with the support of , instructed Andrew to begin working rounds and cases at the hospital 2 years early in the hopes that constant interaction with other Healers and patients could help develop the social skills he needed in order to become a qualified Healer. When it came to practical healing, Andrew was cleared to consult and perform pretty much any procedure necessary when it came to Mind Arts, but when it came to speaking to the patients and informing them of new developments or problems, he was to step back and watch how Amanda Kent handled the situation. She excelled at comforting patients and keeping them calm while still performing top level procedures and Andrews Professors hoped that he would learn from her.

The more he thought about it, the more Max agreed. Andrew and Amanda would work wonderfully together.

Coming back to the present, Max returned to full healer mode and quickly made his way to the other side of the room when he saw Jr Healer Duncan fall back roughly into a chair next to the patient's bed, his forehead sweaty and his breath coming in shallow gulps.

"Duncan, are you alright? Can you hear me? Can I get you anything?" He lifted his wand, the tip glowing in a soft yellow hue as he moved it horizontally in front of his assistant's eyes and watched his eyes react properly. Satisfied that Andrew was not in pain or in any immediate danger, he knelt down to eye level.

"Junior Healer Duncan, Report your finding on Sirius Black."

The light seemed to flood back into the boys eyes at the sound of his Official title and he took a deep breath before beginning.

"Senior Healer Forbes, after the first time I did a light surface scan of Mr Blacks mind which resulted in finding the traces of residual magic's, I believed it would be a simple task to remove and repair the damage as I would with any other patient who has had a memory charm go wrong or had a mental block placed for whatever reason. However, with the deeper examination I just completed, I believe that it is going to take a lot longer than 5 days to erase, remove or undo the damage that has been caused to this mans mind. Not only due to the Dementors, but also because the oldest residue I found is over a decade old. The left over compulsions, while weakened, still have a hold on him and the parts of his mind that seem to have been Oblivated were incredibly precise and accurate." The exhausted apprentice took a sip of water before continuing, but Max could tell that the young healer in front of him was having a hard time maintaining his calm exterior.

"They had to be cast by a powerful, fully grown witch or wizard who had a strong grasp of the Mental Arts, enough so that he was able to slip into the child's mind undetected and remove as well as edit parts of his personality make up without anyone realizing! To cause such a radical change in personality, the attacker would have had to have cast these spells when Mr Black was no older than 11 years old! He was just a first year when he was violated in one of the worst ways possible and no-one even realized it Sir! No parent would have given permission or forced their child to have this procedure, regardless of their beliefs, simply due to the damage that it causes the developing brain and in turn, the child's magic. In conclusion, if...no, not if, WHEN we find the person who is responsible for this, this perversion of the mind arts which was used to desecrate the mind of an innocent child - they should be charged with everything we can possibly throw at them."

Max looked into Duncan's eyes and could see his resolve. The boys eyes were hard and cold, like blackened steel as he handed Healer Forbes his report to check and file,before he excused himself to work through his thoughts and get started on sorting the memories from Sirius's mind for viewing at a later stage when he needed to check his progress. He was dismissed by his Superior and left the room, his mind running through scenarios and working through countless solutions and alternative routes he could try to heal Sirius Black.

He knew the layout and aspects of Mindscapes better than he knew his own house. He spent all his time studying, learning and developing his ability from a young age and he knew he was considered one of the best Mind Healers to date, even without his qualification. It wasn't ego, it was fact. He had worked hard to get to were he was. He also knew what was considered 'normal' for a mind to look like and how it should react and what the different signs and signals from the subconscious meant and how it indicated that there was a problem and his help was needed. He could trace back memories that were so faint that they could be mistaken for a dream thread and could help his patients in ways that his Professors had never even considered before; he took great pride in the level of healing he could provide...but after spending time in the mind of Sirius Black...Sirius Black who has spent 4 years in Azkaban with the Dementors... It was not easy. He spent over 4 hours attempting to talk to the mental projections that ran amok in Black's head yet not once finding the main aspect who controlled the mindscape. There is always a main aspect, sometimes battered or bruised or shy or locked away somehow but there is always some part of the conscious mind that is in control of the rest, yet after 4 hours he found none who were not just echos of memories lost to the chaos that festered everywhere.

This mind was like no other he had ever been in. There was no order anymore, no structure, no basic rules to follow - the mind had been nipped and tucked and pushed,pulled and prodded so badly and for so long that all that was left was an almost animal-like desire to protect a small area that surely would contain those memories that were the most treasured. All around, random snippets of memories would surface and play out scenes and then disappear like ghosts into the fog. The memories were without order and without any contexts, timelines or triggers as was normal. It was as if with his last coherent though, Sirius consciously decided to lock himself and a precious few memories away from his own mind before releasing his control and welcoming oblivion.

Andrew looked up shocked for a moment when he realized that he was already on the bottom floor of the hospital, he didn't even realize he had taken the lifts, so preoccupied were his thoughts. He nodded politely to one of the Senior Healers he passed and quickly made his way to his locker to collect his notebooks. Once he had them, he sent a memo to Healer Forbes and Junior Healer Kent that he was a bit overwhelmed from the session and would be sorting through the memories and deciding on a treatment course for Mr Black for the rest of the day from his apartment so that he could concentrate properly and use his invention to help. He only had to wait a few minutes until he received his permission and a note of luck from Kent, with an offer to come over to his place later to discuss treatments. He sent her a quick note telling her he would let her know before shouting his address and vanishing into the flames.

**AN: From here on out we are going to go further into the mind arts. They always fascinated me and I really wish it was real :(**


	12. Chapter 11

**AN: Okay so next step in healing Sirius is up - We find out how much work its going to take to start the healing process. This is the procedure I believe would be used for severe cases of Mental Rape and destruction from young age, coupled with the Dementors effects on the mind. Any suggestions, ideas or insight into how you think it would work is welcome.**

Junior Healer Duncan arrive at his apartment with plans already forming in his mind.

After setting down his things and getting into more comfortable clothes, Andrew grabbed his notebook and a muggle pen and opened the door to the spare bedroom. The bedroom was completely bare besides a large bluish sphere which took up most of the space. It reached almost to the ceiling and measured at least 5 ft in breadth. This was his Hogwarts End of year project that he had been developing since his third year. It covered most of his classes end of year requirements, Arithmancy, Charms, Potions and Transfiguration, so he was able to combine them. When he had unveiled it at his final exams, he had handed in a large folder which contained all the equations he had devised, potions either created or reworked and upgraded, Charms that he had taken apart and recreated to help him as well as various forms of transfiguration that he had used to complete the sphere. He called it - The Viewing Room. It worked similarly to a pensive, except only someone who had extreme control over their Mental Abilities could actually control and use it effectively. The Viewing Room enabled the user to not only view the memory that was chosen, but also pause it, enlarge specific areas, explore the edges of the memory that a pensive couldn't access and even allow you to take full life size photos for evidence in court. He had created the sphere with the express runes embedded that only a select few could use it, and which ensured false or tampered memories could not be viewed, or even loaded. As such - and after he had proven it to his instructors as well as the DMLE, he had used the same algorithms to create a special camera that could take photos of the mental images within the Viewing Room. By the same principle it was completely incapable of taking a photo of memory or even part of a memory that had been tampered with in any way. Because of these tests, he was allowed to submit the images he took from the minds of victims and use them in evidence if he was given permission, either by his patient, or by court order if the evidence was in the mind of a criminal.

Andrew made sure his apartment was locked and secure and then stepped through the sphere, where he made himself comfortable in the squishy chair that formed in its center. The inside of the Viewing Room looked very much like a pensive, with a soft almost water like fog drifting all around the walls, the only piece jutting out was the small bowl that was the access point to add memories for viewing. Steadying his breathing and closing his eyes, Andrew activated a lesser known feature of his creation and projected a copy of Sirius's first level Mindscape directly into the Viewing Room from his own memories. Everything darkened for a short time and then the walls blurred into an exact copy of the mindscape he had spent 4 hours trying to decipher. It was as if he was back at the hospital and back in Sirius's head, but now it was without the danger of expending either of their magical cores if they went over the 4 hour limit. Now he could take his time and get to the bottom of this chaos.

Opening his notebook and clicking his pen, Andrew drew a rough map of the area, labelled it "First level scape" and then divided the map it up into 6 quadrants. The map went in a clockwise direction, with Q1 at his direct left then above it, Q2. Q3 in the middle, then Q4 on his far right and Q5 on is direct right hand side. Q6 was what he called safe ground. It was the area where nothing changed and was usually the place that the mental projections of other minds, such as his own, or the controlling minds avatar materialized in order to communicate. It was neutral ground. Once he was done, Andrew took a deep breath, his eyes narrowed and his mouth became drawn in a tight line. It was time to categorize the different quadrants - there effects, the level of decay and its potential cause, if there was any spell residue in the area, if there were buried memories and if the quadrant held any possible controlling aspect he could interact with.

Looking around again to get his bearings, Andrew was able to admit to himself that he was still a little wary of the mind he was currently in, even if it was just a copy. He was nervous going into the quadrants blind, so to speak. Almost always he had something to help guide him to where he was needed, a part of the person's subconscious that wanted to get better and wanted to help him heal the mind. Occasionally the aspect was hard to find or there were copies everywhere to confuse anyone entering the mind without permission and sometimes it just took some time for it to appear, but it always did. Now, after seeing the level of destruction and decay that thrived by eating away at Mr Blacks psyche, he just wasn't sure where to start but figured he should go in order and took a step towards the area he'd designated as Q1.

In the first quadrant Andrew found a deep pit, with ragged edges and foul smelling soil surrounding it. It was filled with painful emotions that screamed and cried and shuddered whenever he tried to access them. Again he made an attempt to access and sort through a few of the emotions close to the top in order to find the memory it was attributed too, but again had no luck. Turning to his notebook, he added his findings for Q1.

_"In Quadrant one, there is nothing except a really deep festering hole, which seems to be connected to the entire first level (all quadrants) of the Mindscape somehow. When I tried to access and sort through some of the topmost emotions in the pit, I found that there is currently no timeline for any of the emotions at all. Infant years are mixed with adult, teenager with toddler in no particular order at all - the only common factor is that each memory in this quadrant either actively seeks to cause pain to the mind itself, or causes pain when it comes into contact with a similar emotion and then multiplies . It seems like every emotion and or memory that the Dementors could not feed off of due to the absence of happiness has been thrown into this pit and left to fester without any acknowledgment for the last 4 years at the very least. I believe that had this been a 'normal, healthy' mind, Quadrant One would be similar to the vault of Suppressed Thoughts which is where most people put the memories they are not ready to deal with, however, most people tend to work through any __suppressed__memories or emotion rather quickly so it doesn't rot the mind._

_Recommendation: Healing this quadrant will only be possible once the timeline of the mindscape is restored. Memories in this Quadrant are painful to access and should be done only when with Mind Healer and under supervision."_

Nodding to himself, Andrew wandered over to the area he had designated as Quadrant 2.

Q2 looked quite like a small part of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, with gnarled and bent trees that looked like they were always watching you, with their long creaking branches that seemed to follow you as you passed them. As Andrew walked forward into the area, the trees seemed to grow...or he got smaller, as the illusion of the quadrant took effect. Carefully he made his way to the closest tree, carefully looking for any abnormalities. It looked like an ancient Oak, but the bark was blackened and the leaves were dull or dead. Etched upon the trunk were words, sentences that had been carved into the wood itself. Each tree he looked at had between 3 and 4 sentences that pulsed with light when he moved his hand toward them.

Taking a deep breath, his pen at the ready, Andrew touched one of the sentences closest to him - a snippet from a conversation long ago with someone he couldn't make out clearly and then it hit him hard - he could feel the emotions coating the forest like a blanket of sludge. There was so much guilt and shame and pain in this forest. So many unresolved feelings for situations that Black couldn't have stopped from happening and then hundreds more situations that Black believed he could have stopped if he had only had more information or time or support or firepower. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, the young healer stepped back towards the neutral area and out of the forest. After another couple of deep breaths when he was thinking clearly once again, Andrew wrote his entry for Q2.

_"Quadrant 2 seems to be a memory garden that has become completely overgrown without the subconscious to help work through what is impossible and prune back the constant growth of what ifs. As such, the garden has become seeped paranoia, suspicion and the soil has become soured by consent repetitions of lost chances to try and change events that happened long in the past. I have a feeling that the effects that are taking place in Q2 are a chain reaction from one of the other areas._

_Recommendation: Memory Gardens can only be reverted to its original state by the main aspect of the mind. I can and will assist the aspect with the work and the power needed but they need to make the first move to start the process Memory gardens are delicate and hold many aspects a person has developed over the years."_

Shaking out his writing hand, Andrew made his way to the third quadrant that looked to been the only area of the first level that had any sort of order to it. From where he was standing, it looked like the door to a gringotts vault, one of the really old ones that still had dragons guarding it. The door looked to be made of solid Iron with what looked like hundreds of small individual bolts that eventually interlocked to create the picture of a large dog that he could swear growled and bared its teeth in warning as he approached. Cautiously, he moved towards the door, watching the dog that seemed to become more active the closer he got. After managing to examine the door, the dark haired youth softly pressed his ear to its surface. Concentrating on the door, he was able to faintly hear the sound of a child's laughter, a dog barking playfully, the sound of hoofs on a solid surface...He shut his eyes and willed his mind to enhance his hearing until he could make out a woman's laugh and the sound of a wolf howling in the distance. Smiling faintly, Andrew was happy that there seemed to be at least one place that was unharmed and still healthy. Turning to a new page, he added his entry.

_"Q3 seems to be the only part of Black's mind that is untouched by the horrors of whatever this man has endured throughout his life. The entrance takes the form of a large, gringotts inspired vault door with individual locks which take shape as a large guard dog that becomes animated when __approached__. I believe that when Sirius felt himself losing his best memories at the hands of the Dementors, he selected a few memories that while not necessarily happy, were important to him for whatever reason. I also believe that Mr Black's main controlling aspect locked itself into the vault along with the chosen memories in order to stay sane and keep a small part of itself safe. _

_Recommendation: I believe that I need to win over the animated guard dog on the vault door in order to gain access to the main aspect. I am not sure how I to do this but perhaps proving that I am here to help and not harm may be a start. Another idea may be for Mr Black to __realize__that he is indeed free and not going back to Azkaban and that his remaining memories are safe now. Side note: Speak to Amanda Kent and see if she can gain his trust enough for him to tell me how to access the dog vault or what the dog represents to Mr Black"_

After discovering that there was still hope within this damaged mind, Andrew felt slightly energized and determined to continue his mission.

Stepping towards Q4, Andrew found himself at the base of a twisted and macabre version of a waterfall. This had to be a broken version of a Memory Viewingfall. This particular part of a mindscape was pretty common actually. It consisted of a large lake or pond that had a constant waterfall of memories, though mostly good. All your memories, Knowledge that had yet to be sorted and ideas would rest in the pool and would be sucked into the waterfall to be viewed when in use by the mind. This aspect was one of his inspirations for his Viewing Room but seeing this perverted form of it was like a blow to the face. He couldn't understand how! What was once a beautiful crystal pond, a source of information used to recall people, places or events and simple everyday things was now deadened and surrounded by large rocks with what looked like spider webs covering the surfaces. Instead of recalling happy memories from the depths, this waterfall constantly replayed scenarios of how things could have gone if Sirius had just changed this small detail, or maybe that small detail. It then showed how things should have gone if Sirius could change it - different play-outs and alternatives situations for every regretted conversation, for ever bad choice and for every mistake Sirius ever made since he was able to process emotions and thoughts was playing in a constant repeated cycle with no sign of any triggers actively working to drag these abominations from the bottom of the pond.

Knowing that this would most likely be one of the harder quadrants to handle, he shook his head sadly and moved back to Q6 to make his observations.

_"Recommendation: Q4 has become a evil version of events that have already played out using the system of a Viewingfall. The mind is torturing itself with scenarios that cannot be changed no matter what is done. There are no visible triggers for the pond or Viewingfall so my only guess is that the white spider web like substance is the physical manifestation of magical residue, left behind by what I believe is a __extremely__strong personality altering compulsion. A simple Oblivate or Confusion Blocks magic's would not work on a memory pool of this size. The only explanation is that whoever invaded Sirius's mind around age 11 was insistent that Sirius never second guess any of his choices - most likely making him reckless and possibly an adrenaline junkie. (Personal Note: it sounds like he was changed to act like a __stereotypical__Gryffindor) Because of this forced personality shift, the Viewingfall is instead reflecting all the situations that would have been possible had Sirius had the ability to think things through properly before acting. I believe that in some twisted way, the minds __subconscious__is actually using the Viewingfall to try and show Sirius the Personality Compulsion that is destroying him. It is possible that due to the decay of the first level, the subconscious does not even realize that it is causing more damage._

_Recommendation: Once again I shall request Kent's help with talking to Mr Black in person. Hopefully once he sees that his reckless __behavior__is not his fault, he will be able to let some of his guilt go and we can begin to clean up the Memory pool."_

Turning towards the 5th and final quadrant, Andrew realized that he did not have the energy or the mental acuity to deal with another area at the moment. Closing his book and sitting cross-legged on the ground, Andrew willed the copy of his patients mind to close and store itself in a separate area of the Sphere.

As he left the room, he realized that he must have been in the scape for hours as it was dark out. A quick tempus showed it was almost 8pm and he was incredibly hungry. On a spur of the moment decision, he sent his lynx patronus to Amanda Kent, inviting here to come for a bite and to discuss his findings with her. He received a reply a few minutes later in the form of her playful Monkey, which opened its mouth to play her message, "I would love to discuss the case with you. I will pick up some pizza from the muggle place near my place and be there in 15 min."

As he cleaned up the living area a bit to prepare for company, Andrew Duncan was hit with two strong realizations:

1. He knew that Sirius Black was innocent of all charges and had been framed.

This was simple for him to see after seeing into the mans mind, however it was his second realization that caused him to loose his balance and crumble to the ground:

2. He was well aware that there are currently only 3 known Master level users of the Mind Arts, besides himself and his Professors, who like himself, had all taken the Healers Oath which would prevent them from causing such damage to the mind of anyone, let along a child. Those three wizards were Professor Severus Snape (his first teacher), Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Logically speaking, as Severus Snape is the same age as Sirius, and they only met at Hogwarts so it would be impossible for him to be the attacker...That left only two viable options... Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort...


End file.
